What hurts the most
by Katsura369
Summary: Sakura is a visored who doesn't know about the soul society but uses her powers to fight hollows find out what happens when she meets Ichigo and he opens her eyes to a world she never thought existed.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright it was pointed out that this was a bit of a Mary Sue so I'm going to be re-editing these few chapters while I still have a chance and I'm going to be changing a few things up but the story plot and base is still the same. It's still based on the arancars saga**

**Summary **

**Sakura Haruno comes to Karakura town as a new transfer students and with a secret; she's a visored; she's always one step ahead of Ichigo and his friends when it comes to slaying hollows in the town but doesn't know anything about them or about the soul society in the lest or her own powers due to that fact she tries her hardest to exclude herself from the world to hide her powers and appear normal. What happens when the soul society finds out about her and she gets involved with this upcoming winter war? **

**BTW-not sure I'm spelling everyone's names right but I promise I'll get it eventually! And characters might be OC**

**I don't own bleach or Naruto because if I did you would have a wonderful cross over season! **

There was the last howl of a hollow as a 15 year old teenage boy with short spikey orange hair and piercing brown eyes slashed with his large sword at the spider like hollow cutting it in half. He watched with a grin as it disappeared.

"Another Hollow down for the count" Ichigo said smirking after all his training and the fights he was glad to finally be back home for a while he had just gotten back from his battle with the bounts and things were finally getting back to normal for him well as normal as I could be. Rukia hadn't come back to the world of the living so he was stuck cleaning up the hollows on his own. It was too bad Rukia wasn't around though because it meant he had to let Kon stay in his body. Then there was also his soul reaper badge but it would mean passing out in the middle of class.

"Well now that that's done" Ichigo sighed happily "I should get back to school before Kon wrecks my reputation even further"

* * *

Ichigo arrived later at school during break to find Uryuu and Chad trying to restrain Kon from going after any of the girls in the field; he remembered what happened the last time something like this went down he almost got expelled but luckily for him it was just a three day suspension sometimes he wondered why he bothered with Kon when it would be better to appear dead.

"Alright time to switch" Ichigo said going over to his friends who were trying to hold down Konwith all their might.

"Ichigo" Uryuu called his glasses were cracked and his usually neat blue hair was dishrivled "Get back in your body now; we can't hold him much longer!"

"What the hell's going on?" Ichigo asked

"No" Kon begged "Please just let me stay a little longer I wanted to talk to that new cutie!"

Ichigo gave him a weird look "I've seen him get worked up over girls but never this much usually he would just pout and cry not punch and kick"

Kon continued to struggle but after he realised he wouldn't be breaking out of their death grip he stopped the struggles "Come on Ichigo I wanted to hook up with that new hotty please!"

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked

"He's smitten with the new girl" Chad explained calmly "You missed her introduction this morning when you left. It was actually a bit frightening"

Ichigo raised his eyebrow and scratched the back of his head "Oh well anyway time to get back in"

At the mention of that Kon started struggling again "No….No; wait Ichigo just give me a few more minutes I was so close to groping her! She's got melons as big as Orihime's"

Ichigo felt a vein throb on his forehead good god he was so lucky his friends stopped Kon from jumping the new girl or this time he would've been expelled for sure. He was losing his reputation because of him!

Ichigo ignored Kon's pleas and got back into his body sighing heavily "So he didn't do anything else did he; no jumping anyone? Attacks"

They shook their heads "Surprisingly all he done was try and trudge after Haruno"

"Haruno" Ichigo asked

"The new girl" Uryuu explained "Sakura Haruno"

"Oh yeah by the way" Chad started "You're her lab partner that's why Kon wanted to stay in your body a little longer and you're seated next to her"

"Oh" Ichigo said

"ICHIGO!" Kaigo called running over to him; he of course had the wind knocked out of him when Ichigo raised his fist and hit his friend square in the face.

"Kaigo what's going on?" Ichigo asked

Kaigo stood up from the ground recovering from the punch he grabbed Ichigo by his shirt and started shaking him "What the heck man? You lucky bastard you got the hot new girl as your lab partner! You have all the luck; why?! Fate is so cruel"

Ichigo shook his head why the hell was everyone making such a big deal over this…Sakura girl was she that good looking?

"Aw man" Kaigo whined

Mizuiro came over to them "What an idiot it was just dumb luck Keigo that Ichigo was the one paired up with her; I gotta admit though I am pretty just she's just been listed as one of the top girls in the school ranked up right with Orihime from what I heard the seniors say and she has an unusual natural hair colour like you Ichigo"

"Huh?" Ichigo gave them a blank look "You rank the girls?"

"Never mind that" Keigo said "How can you not be affected at all at the thought I mean did you even see her properly?"

'I haven't seen her at all' Ichigo thought back in his mind and it was the truth he didn't know why his friends were getting so worked up over this girl even Mizuiro who always went for older girls.

* * *

It was time for science now and Ichigo was sitting at his usual far end in the corner of the class room but the window of the double desk; class was just about to start and it seemed that almost all the guys in class were staring at him; well not staring more like glaring at him. He tensed slightly damn all this for the new girl? He glared back at them and their looks faltered before they turned away from him in fear.

"Alright students" the teacher called "Please open your text book to page-

'Oh shit' Ichigo thought 'I don't have it here!'

Suddenly the door swung open slightly and they heard a voice it was soft but it sounded firm.

"Um excuse me….." the teacher went over to the door "Sorry I'm late; I got lost"

"Oh that's ok" the teacher smiled; she opened the door further "Come on in"

The teacher turned to the class "Now I'm sure some of you know her but I'm going to introduce her anyway this is Sakura Haruno…come on in dear don't be shy"

Ichigo looked away from the window and over to the teacher time to see what all the hub bub was about. He froze slightly.

"Hi; I'm Sakura Haruno nice to meet you" she said sounding rather blunt about it

There stood the new girl; she was a little small curvy and Kon wasn't kidding when he said her breasts were as big as Orihime's well almost as big yet she was slightly shorter than her but taller than Rukia. She had pink hair that was down her mid back with bangs framing her face making her slightly wide forehead visible and emerald green eyes. If she didn't have that stoic look on her face she might be considered to look a bit like a doll.

"Alright let's see" the teacher said looking at her seating paper "Go sit beside Kurosaki Ichigo"

Sakura turned to Ichigo and nodded before walking over to him; she haltingly took her seat as the lesson continued. She took out her text book then noticed Ichigo and poked his shoulder slightly.

"Um; excuse me" Sakura said "Do you have your text book?"

"N-No I forgot it" Ichigo replied 'Why did I just stutter?' he thought

"Here" Sakura said moving her book and her chair a little closer to him so they could both see the book.

"Thanks" Ichigo said

"You're welcome" Sakura murmured under her breadth though it almost sounded like she was trying to flip him off. It was like she had a real strong tone but stoic attitude.

As the lesson progressed not much was said between the two but there was a feeling of death in the air and it was so directed at Ichigo and he knew it while Sakura seemed oblivious to it. They ended up doing an activity together and got grouped for an assignment which got him death dagger glares in return but like he could care less about that. They already knew not to mess with him but some idiots just don't learn their lesson plus people just looking at Chad scared them away.

* * *

The bell finally rang signalling freedom for Ichigo well for now "Oh hey Sakura" Ichigo called looking over to her "When do you want to work on the assignment?"

"Um" Sakura paused for a moment and frowned a little "How about next week Saturday; we can work out the details during the week"

"Sure"

Ichigo started heading out the class but stopped when he heard Sakura's voice again; turning around he saw some of the other guys gathering around her

"So you're the new girl Sakura that's a pretty name"

"You think; I find it a comical joke" Sakura said oblivious that these guys were trouble as she packed away her books.

"I have to say you make that pink dyed hair look really hot"

Sakura twitched slightly but didn't seem to react that much "It's my natural hair colour" she stated

"Well babe why you hanging around a punk like Ichigo you hear the rumours about him?"

Sakura cocked her head to the side with that same stoic look on her face "Rumours?"

"Yeah; he's a total delinquent; it's not good to be seen with him" one of the guys vouched

"Like I believe rumours" Sakura said and her voice almost softened at that "Now could you move? I have to get through"

"Hey come on" the senior started reaching for her but his wrist was grabbed and he was twisted around with his arm held out on his back.

"Ah crap that hurts!" he said trying to get out of Sakura's grasp "Are you insane?"

She let him go and kicked him back; she flipped off the long bangs on her side of her forehead and threw her bag over her shoulder "I don't like to repeat myself" she glared at them and it actually made them flinch "Get out of the way"

"Why you-

Just as another one of the seniors looked like they were going to start Ichigo's voice cut through.

"If she says move then your should do what she asked" Ichigo says calmly as he finally decided to come up to them; looking at the other guys they all just tensed; gulped and fled the class room in an instant.

Ichigo sighed "Hey you ok?" he asked

Sakura nodded "Yeah don't worry about it that's been happening all day"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes "In every class?"

Sakura nodded plainly again "Yeah in English this morning; math; physics oh and PE was the worst then Geo"

Ichigo froze 'Wait; she's in all my classes?' he thought stupidly he had missed all his lessons today so he really shouldn't be surprised.

"Well if those guys give you trouble; I'll set those guys straight" Ichigo offered

Sakura shook her head "Don't worry yourself; Kurosaki I can take care of myself and I don't need any knights in shining armour"

Ichigo was a bit taken back by her tone; she started walking off out as she passed through the door he heard her "Though thanks for the help"

* * *

As Ichigo walked home he thought back about Sakura; she seemed to grasp his interest; she acted so cold and stoic towards those guys that were hitting on her and by the looks of it she literally looked like she was going to hit them back yet she was very calm when she did that and when she just brushed him off like that wait why was he thinking about her like that; she just acted like she didn't give a damn when he helped her. Just then Ichigo heard his combat pass and sighed heavily.

Another hollow; he sighed he just couldn't get a break today. He was about half way off from where he was heading but then it stopped blinking. Ichigo looked at it curiously.

"Is it broken?" he wondered holding it up to his eyes

* * *

"Die monster" a bitter sweet voice whispered in the night as she brought her blade down on the creature cutting it right down the middle; she watched as it dissolved into nothing and smiled a little for the first time she arrived in this town.

"That takes care of that" Sakura sighed and stretched out her arms tiredly "Time to head home and then over to work"

Sakura wore an unusual soul reaper hakama; it ended mid-thigh and was frilled at the bottom with a white ribbon around her waist with long sleeves. She put her sword back in its sheath and started heading back home where she left her body; she always tried to leave her body at home before taking coming to defeat the hollow. On the numerous occasions when she wasn't able to and had to literally just leave it lying around in public where people could see her and that always created a big commotion.

This arrangement of Sakura fighting these monsters all these monsters had only started about two years ago but from the time she was five she's been able to see ghosts. She lived in an orphanage at that time so it was hard for her to deal with seeing things no one else could see and the bullying there made things harder but then a year after that she was taken out of the orphanage by someone and during that time though the images never faded she never told anyone she could see ghosts.

As to how she had become a soul reaper; it all started when her ability of being able to see ghosts became more clearly than ever and a sense of danger that would make the back of her hair stand on end began and then after that she just woke up one day with this skull in her hands which she had turned into a necklace thinking it looked really cool but no one else could see it and then every time she got that feeling of something dangerous coming she would show up at the location; the necklace would beep she just seemed to get knocked out of her body. That was the first time she had transformed into a soul reaper and the first time she's ever seen a hollow before and didn't have much choice but to slay it. However Sakura didn't know about other soul reapers or the soul society or even hollows. She just thought she was some kind of freak that had to use her powers for something.

* * *

Ichigo sighed he was halfway running for the hollow but then his badge just stopped so now he had to head back home which was all the way across town! Now he was going to have to rush home or he was going to be scolded for breaking curfew again not like he cared really though but it was getting really late. He passed through the towns markets that were just closing up. He stopped when he spotted a blob of dark pink.

"W-What the?" he blinked "S-Sakura? What's she doing?"

He saw Sakura leaving a café; she was wearing a light blue dress that ended at her knees with white frills and a white apron. She had on blue laced boots as well. Her pink hair was tied into two buns.

"Hey Sakura" Ichigo called going up to her; she turned around

"Oh crap" she muttered under her breadth; her eyes hardening slightly "Sorry we're closed now"

Ichigo looked at her strangely and tried to ignore the cold tone "You work here?"

Sakura nodded bluntly "Yeah"

"How come; I mean it's so late don't your folks know that?" he said covering that he was going to ask her why she was working here because this kind of thing didn't really seem her style from the impression she gave

She shook her head simply; she didn't have any parents to begin with but what would be the point in telling him that.

"Oh" Ichigo said maybe her parents weren't the kind who would just give her money a lot like his wouldn't "Wow that must be hard"

Sakura shook her head "Not really I mean the hours aren't really as late as you're exaggerating"

"Yeah but what about school work?" he asked her

"I get that done as well Ichigo" Sakura stated simply "Now if you're done I have to close up"

Ichigo was once again taken back slightly by her tone "Alright see you" he muttered under his breadth "Little miss attitude"

She waited until she saw him far enough and sighed; she ran a hand through her hair. She wondered what the heck he was doing here at this part of town to begin with.

**Ok here's the first chapter of the new What hurts the most; hope you enjoyed it; I know I'm changing Sakura's character up a bit but it's like I said in the summary she wants to keep her distance from people so she's developed that kind of characteristic. **

**Please Review **


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm giving a heads up here I've only ever watched Bleach in English dub not sub so I'm not used to using Japanese terms for them and when it comes to spelling so please forgive me. I wanted to add something; the characters in here are going to be a bit OC and as for Sakura's personality it will all soon be explained why she's acting like this in future chapters if you still don't get it. **

**Read and Enjoy**

* * *

The next two days had gone by pretty normal for him well as normal as it could be for him; there weren't any hollow attacks so that was as close to day off he was getting even though he still had school. He still couldn't stop thinking about that afternoon; there was something nagging him in the back of the head but he couldn't place it. Sakura had arrived at school in her usual calm; cold mood; the guys were still drooling over her like she was a piece of meat but she didn't seem to notice any of them. She constantly seemed to be looking at a book or writing or even on her phone but he hadn't actually seen her talking to anyone not that he was stalking her she was just in all his classes and she wasn't hard to spot being the only girl in school with pink hair. A teacher had actually warned her that dying her hair that kind of colour wasn't allowed but shut up after she told him it was natural he had the same problem when he first came here; his dad had to actually confirm with them that it was his real hair colour god he felt like just dying that day but he wondered how Sakura had gotten off so easily.

Orihime and some of her friends had wanted to ask Sakura if she wanted to have lunch with them but during lunch break Sakura had just seemed to disappear; it hadn't seemed like she made any friends. Though she seemed rather quiet whenever the girls tried to talk to her she didn't drop her stoic act or tone towards them and towards him when they had science today so he would try and figure out why she was behaving like this it almost seemed like she was trying to keep her distance from people right now. Well second break had started and as usual she was gone he wondered where she went?

Sakura sighed; she had half an hour to make sure there weren't any hollows running around town before heading back so she could eat her lunch; she was starving! She hadn't gotten to eat first break because she knew that there were going to be hollow attacks; Sakura didn't know how but before time she could feel when one of those monsters would attack so she always showed up ahead. She didn't know how she had this power; she didn't know who gave them to her she didn't know much about it all she knew was that she had to kill those monsters because she saw what they could do and that was all she had ever done with her power.

Sakura saw the hollow emerging near the park before it could even get it's body out of the portal she had taken its head off with a single stroke; she felt around for a while for any signs of other hollows coming and sighed in relief nothing for today which means if she headed back now she would get fifteen minutes break!

Sakura arrived back at school coming up from the roof quickly changing back into her visible form before settling down where she had left her lunch and her books but when she turned around it wasn't there.

"Huh?" she said looking from side to side "My lunch!"

"Did you hear that?" she heard a voice ask

Sakura placed a hand over her mouth and peered behind the wall on the other side of the roof where she saw Ichigo and his friends sitting; she looked at Ichigo and saw him…..holding her lunch and her book bag!

'Shoot' she thought; her stomach softly growled 'Waaaah now I won't get to eat and I can't let them know I'm here; I better get going' she thought glumly as she jumped off the roof and landed softly on the ground bellow; no one was at the back of the school so it was fine. She slumped down and sat there for a while waiting; her name was on the books and on the lunch time so she was sure Ichigo would be returning it to her during their last period now all she had to do was wait.

Her stomach growled again; Sakura twitched and pulled at her hair "Easier said than done when you're this hungry"

* * *

Soon enough though the bell had gone and it was last period so she could get her things by Ichigo; god she hoped he still had it. Sakura saw Ichigo sitting there already with his head turned to the window. She wondered why he was always looking over there all the time.

"Oh hey" Ichigo greeted he held out her bag and lunch "This is yours right?"

Sakura pretended to be calm about it when she replied though when she was hungry she was usually very pissed "Yeah thanks" she said taking it from him swiftly "I guess I forgot I left it"

She just had to calm her stomachs cries to be filled; soon the teacher arrived and told them to start preparing for their assignments. While the other students were already chatting about some talking about their work others were taking up their 'free period' with small talk to fill in the time.

"So" Ichigo started after a while "Do you have any thoughts on the assignment"

Sakura tilted her head slightly in a thinking manner but with a bit of a scowl on her face "Well let me see….we have to do an observation experiment then write up a report that shouldn't take too long to do; are you able to come by this Saturday still?"

"Sure" Ichigo replied

"Should we work on it at your house?" Sakura asked

Ichigo thought about it for a while; let's see if they went to his house his sisters wouldn't really get in the way when he thinks about it; Karin would be out most likely playing soccer with her friends and Yuzu…probably doing the chores at home or playing with her dolls and his dad….at that mental thought he instantly tensed; let's see thinking about what happen every time he brought a girl home…..

'HELL NO!' he thought

"N-No how about I just come over to you?" he asked

Sakura nodded; she leaned down on her desk and placed her hand under her chin "Sure but we have to do it this Saturday I'm kinda swamped a lot on the weekends"

"Don't you ever take a break?" Ichigo asks with a glint of concern in his eyes

"Well…I like to move around a lot" she replied. If he knew what she was really up to like fighting hollows she wouldn't know what he would think (remember he doesn't know shes' a soul reaper yet)

Sakura wrote down her address and gave him her phone number "Thanks" she nodded and turned her attention back to her bag; she took out an art book and started to draw. Ichigo peered over her shoulder slightly she was drawing…...what looked like a sword no it was a scythe.

"Wow that's really good" Ichigo complemented causing Sakura to jump

"Geez don't do that and don't watch" she said

Ichigo frowned at her "Hey I was just complimenting you; don't know why you're always so hostile"

"I'm not" she shot back

"Oh yeah" he asked her sarcastically

They sat in silence for a while; Sakura closed her sketch book and the two of them stared at each other well more like glared; as they did Ichigo started to think that there was something he wanted to say to her but now he couldn't recall what it was until the bell rang ten seconds later. Sakura turned her attention back to the front of the class and stood up; she grabbed her things and headed out the class after saying bye to him that's when he suddenly remembered. He wanted to ask her where she disappeared to every lunch break; he figured that she had to be on the roof now since he found her bag and lunch there but…..he usually sits up there with his friends and he doesn't recall seeing her coming or going for the past two days there he was sure he would've noticed.

'What's with her?' he thought 'And why the hell am I so interested?' he wondered suddenly

* * *

The last few days had just flown by; Ichigo hadn't had a lot of hollow attacks and usually when he arrived at the place the hollows spiritual pressures were long gone and nothing was left of it. He wondered if they went back before they came; it was a strange development but it wasn't like he was complaining although if they kept this up he was going to run out of practice. At school though he tried not to; he noticed that Sakura was still always on her own; she didn't seem to open up to anyone and was cold and distant from them.

"Another one gone" Ichigo asked irritated at the fact that he had just run over to the park for nothing again and while leaving Kon in his body to continue to damage his reputation. He sighed and flash stepped back to school as he flew over the school building he spotted Sakura on the roof but it was behind the extra equipment shed; so that was where she was every break well at least now he knew where to find her. It looked like she was just about to start eating her lunch now yet the bell had gone nearly ten minutes ago. He spotted Kon and the others as well they were in the gardens; he wanted to get back into his body as soon as possible then maybe he could catch Sakura before she disappeared again and before the bell rang. And without wasting any time he had done just that he ran over to Kon and returned to his body before bolting into the building trying to get to the roof but before he could get there the bell had gone and it was time for class.

'Maybe another time' he thought then quickly snapped 'Why the heck do I care so much?'

* * *

Ichigo cursed he realised his next class was on the other side of the building and if he was late he was going to detention and it was not something you wanted on a Friday; without noticing really where he was going he felt something bump into him and saw a flash of pink. He looked down and saw Sakura sitting on the floor with her books having fallen out of her bag.  
She looked up at him with her usual stoic expression "Sorry; guess I didn't watch where I was going" she said standing up calmly and dusting herself off and standing up; she picked up her book bag and flung it over her shoulder.

That was a bit of a surprise for Ichigo; when you see the way Sakura's been acting you would think she was the rude type or the kind that lost their temper quickly but it turned out she was just stoic and blunt not just to others but to herself as well.

Ichigo didn't know why but something about the way she behaved just seemed interesting; it was probably because he couldn't figure her out "You alright?" he asked

She brushed him off and nodded and then looked at him through narrowed eyes "Um shouldn't you be heading to class?" she asked suddenly looking at the clock

He suddenly freaked "Oh no that's right" he was about to run off before he turned to say bye to Sakura but when he turned around she was gone and he wondered suddenly how she moved so fast. Maybe she was late for class as well? Oh who was he kidding she could just use the 'I got lost excuse' she would be fine; him on the other hand looks like his weekend was going to start an hour late literally.

* * *

"Hey Ichigo welcome home" Yuzu greeted as Ichigo came into the house

"Hey Yuzu where's Karin?" he asked looking around for his dark haired tomboy sister

"Oh she's out still playing a match" Yuzu replied "I'm making stew for dinner"

"Alright" Ichigo said going into his room

Turning on his light Ichigo threw his bag to the corner of the room and landed on his bed letting out a huge sigh; it was getting really boring not being able to kill Hollows and there hasn't been much activity after the Bounts incident and no one had any leads on Aizen this was getting so boring without being able to use his powers but in a way it was still calming as well though he really needed the practice.

"Geez is someone else killing them off?" he thought

"Ichigo" Kon shouted coming out of his back pack "Why'd you do that? I was still in there!"

"Shut up Kon" Ichigo ordered suddenly getting in a bad mood "I'm not in the mood for this"

"AH you stupid-

"Yuzu" Ichigo shouted suddenly and in she came with an apron on and a spoon in her hand.

"Something wrong?" she asked

"I found your doll" he said pointing to Kon who was glaring at him as he lied still on the floor pretending to be a lifeless stuffed animal.

"Oh there it is" she said happily taking it in her arms and walking away quickly out of her brother's room.

Ichigo sighed at least that left him for a bit of peace and quiet until Kon snuck out of his sisters room; he heard his phone start ringing in his pocket; he flipped it and answered.

"Hello?" he heard a female's voice at the end of the phone

"Hey Ichigo It's Sakura" she greeted "Are you still going to be able to make it tomorrow?"

"Oh hey Sakura" Ichigo swore he felt his heart beat suddenly "Yeah it's fine why are you busy?"

"No" he heard her reply calmly "It's fine I just wanted to make sure you were still coming what time by the way?"

"How about 10?" he asked

"Ok" Sakura replied

"Ok" Ichigo said "I'll see you there"

"Yeah bye" Sakura replied hanging up straight after

"Bye" Ichigo said looking at the screen

**Well there you have it hope you enjoyed another chapter will be coming up **


	3. Chapter 3

"This should be the place" Ichigo thought to himself looking around the doors of the apartments around; he couldn't believe still that she lived in such a large building. He rang the doorbell and waited.

"Coming" he heard a voice call and he could tell that it was Sakura's

The door finally opened and out came Sakura wearing a light blue dress that ended just above her knees with white stockings. You'd think someone with a personality like hers wouldn't dress so girly.

"Hey Kurosaki" she said as she moved to make room for him to come through the door "Come on in"

"Please just call me Ichigo" he told her a little upset "When you say it like that it sounds like you're addressing my father and I don't like how that's sticking to me"

Ichigo stepped in and looked around; her place was huge no wonder she worked all the time; he couldn't help but imagine what it must be like trying to maintain this place on your own even if it is rent free it still must be hard to maintain this kind of living for a high school student.

"Wow" he said looking around the apartment "This place is so big for just one person"

Sakura nodded "Yeah; it is nice but it's too big; I just moved in here; it actually belongs to my legal guardian"

"So you're an orphan?" Ichigo asked a little stunned

Sakura nodded "Don't ask for the life's story please"

"Don't worry I wasn't asking" He muttered under his breath

Shaking his head Ichigo sat on the couch in front of the TV set; he wondered how many rooms were in this apartment; there was a passage way and two doors were visible.

"You can have a seat over there" she pointed to the couch "Do you want something to drink?"

"Uh no thanks" he replied

Sakura sat beside him and saw Ichigo looking at the pictures that were hanging on the walls at the back and on the sides of the room. He saw a small trophy case there and there were a few sitting there.

"You take martial arts?" Ichigo asked her a bit surprised

"Yeah" she said "I told Kyo I wanted to take up lessons so he put me in Judo and Kendo classes but I quit like two years ago" Ichigo looked at the pictures planted around on the wall it was of her and some guy about in his late twenty's; he had dark hair and blue eyes but something about him seemed familiar.

"Oh that's my guardian his name was Kyo" Sakura explained

"He looks so young" Ichigo observed

"He was twenty eight; he took over his father's company when he was eighteen" Sakura explained her tone becoming a bit softer "He adopted me when I was six and died a year ago"

"Sorry to hear that" Ichigo said

Sakura shook her head quickly when she realised what she said "Forget it; I said I wasn't giving a life story here; anyway let's get started on the project"

Well it was a nice moment while it lasted but Ichigo wasn't going to try and pry "Oh yeah" Ichigo agreed almost forgetting the reason he had come here "We're doing blood circulation in humans right; so how do you want to go about it?"

"Well according to the assignment we have to do a physical comparison" Sakura stated looking at the work sheet; she set down a stop watch.

"Here we can start by drawing up a table in comparing the differences between your heart rate and my own during these series of events" Sakura explained "First let's take each other's count on how many pulses per second first we start at the neck then the wrist and then our hearts"

Ichigo nodded; Sakura drew up the table to take down the analysis and they started. Taking his hand she placed it at the spot she felt her pulse and had him press down on it slightly and timed him to start counting.

"You have about seventy beats per minute" he said taking away his finger and writing down the observation.

"Ok your turn" Sakura said as she started feeling around Ichigo's neck for his pulse; he had to admit her fingers were really tiny and soft and he could smell her sweet scent but it wasn't perfume it was something else

"Here" she said finally finding the pulse; she turned on the timer and started counting

Ichigo kept his face blank but having Sakura this close to him was stirring something up inside of him he was trying to contain; he couldn't have his pulse speeding up during this and then lie by telling her it was normal….right?

She pulled away and wrote it down "About ninety beats" she confirmed "Wow that's a lot" she murmured

"Now it's your wrist pulse should be the same" he said as he gently took Sakura's wrist in his hand once again realising how tiny it was compared to his; she seemed very fragile yet her dimeana said otherwise.

Once Sakura was finished charting down Ichigo she went continued "Now the chest"

She placed her hand on Ichigo's chest until she could feel his heart beat; this was the hardest to keep track of because the beats were so faint. She timed him; Ichigo held still staring down at her; her dark pink locks covering most of her face.

"Alright I'm done" she said looking up at him "My turn"

"Uh….right" Ichigo gulped there was just one problem with this when it came to her because she was so…over developed was a way of putting it he wasn't going to be able to avoid touching her breast like this because of its size.

"Here" Sakura said placing his hand gently near the middle of her chest but just slightly over her breast and pressed his hand down "There" she didn't even seem that bothered about it; just kept that look on her face like she didn't give a damn.

Ichigo felt a light blush stain his cheeks before he started timing and it felt rather long before that minute was over. He quickly removed his hand and wrote down with shaking hands he almost lost count.

After a while they had finally finished the observations and wrote a report; Sakura was relieved as she and Ichigo finished clearing the papers; the report was done and it looked pretty good. It had only taken about three hours to finish it off now and that was a twenty page report. Sakura was happy she was going to be able to take a break for once; she was tired she had to admit she was….it wasn't easy keeping jobs she had recently learned that your aren't allowed to have a part time jobs because it's against school regulations at least that's what they say though she found it stupid she decided she had to do it.

"Wow" Ichigo said looking at the clock "It's still pretty early"

"Yeah" she observed casually as she looked at the time "If we're done I think you should be able to go"

Ichigo felt his eye twitch "Wow; you really are hostile"

Sakura scoffed softly "I am not-

"Yeah you are" Ichigo countered crossing his arms over his chest "You got a real attitude problem"

"Am I impolite?" she asked him bluntly

Ichigo paused form a moment "Well no…."

"Then what's the problem?" she asked him bluntly

"That" he said "I think a CEO has better people skills than you"

Sakura rolled her eyes "I think they're supposed to"

"That's not the point" Ichigo said quickly; damn this girl had a comeback for everything "Anyway I wanted to ask why are you like that?"

She stiffened a little "I don't know what you're talking about" she said brushing him off a little

"There's my point" he said waving his hand slightly

"Cut it out carrot top"

Ichigo clenched his jaw "Hey don't go calling me names based on my hair colour when I can just as easily call you strawberry"

There was another moment of silence between the two again until Sakura broke it "Sorry" she said

"Huh?"

"I said sorry" she replied again but there wasn't really any emotion in her voice when she said it

Ichigo sighed tiredly and rubbed the back of his head; there really was no understanding this girl; she's barely ever cracked a smile.

"So what do you plan on doing? Have you had a chance to look around town?" Ichigo asked her trying to stop the tension in the air

"I haven't really had a chance since I moved here I was mostly…working" Sakura said that was true though; all she done was work if it wasn't at her paid job it was her job as a soul reaper; hunting down hollow's they seemed to be increasing a lot though this wasn't really a bad thing it kept her busy. If she made friends at school then with time they might suspect her and then…who knows they might find out about her. Sakura didn't want that; it would be easier to keep her distance from everyone and that included Ichigo.

"Really?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes a little "I just said it"

"Cool how about I show you around?" Ichigo asked

Sakura looked up at him with slightly wide eyes; she was surprised after all she's been nothing really but cold to him yet he still wanted to show her around "Where'd that offer come from?" she said crossing her arms over her chest trying to calm her beating heart

Ichigo rolled his eyes slightly "Well you don't really know your way around here right?" he asked "There isn't really much to show though but that's just my opinion but how about just hanging out for today?"

Though she didn't want to get attached to the orange haired boy more than she was already there was something about him that felt different to her in a way she couldn't explain. She might just want his friendship more than she was starting to believe. Oh well she figured she might as well try and enjoy herself a little and it was just one day right? No harm and it weren't like they were going to be doing this regularly.

"Sure" Sakura said standing up "Give me a few minutes; I'll be done soon"

She quickly ran into her room to get her shoes and bag before running back into the living room where Ichigo was waiting patiently; she had to admit she found that rather strange since he didn't seem like the type of person that had patience but you can't judge a book by its cover; same thing could go for her. Following Ichigo out; she locked the door behind her before they both headed out of the building.

Ichigo smirked a little; looks like they were getting some where


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok everyone I hope you don't think I'm rushing these chapters too much but I really want to get them posted as soon as possible. I'm almost done fixing it and then I'm going to pick up where I left off. **

* * *

She had to admit that Karakura was actually a very nice town; Ichigo had shown her around and took her to what he believe was the best places though he said he wasn't a very good tour guide she though he done a decent job at least it was a surprise to her about how he seemed able to cope with her swift; blunt responds and cold brush offs. He didn't seem like the friendly type either and yet compared to her right now he was. After walking around town for a while getting to know the ropes around the area; like where she was recommended to go and where she shouldn't go and where she definitely should go. Ichigo took her to the shopping areas in town; it was actually also a little near the café.

"Do you want to go in?" Ichigo asked

Sakura shook her head "No way; I've been there enough; I actually wanted a job at a hospital"

"Hospital" Ichigo asked; she was sharing a fact about herself willingly?

Sakura nodded and folded her arms over her head "Do I have to repeat it; yeah a hospital. I like healing people don't act so surprised"

"No fun waiting tables?" he asked cocking his head to the side slightly

"Not as much as healing people" she started looking around again and spotted an arcade; Ichigo must have seen her dazing a little because he started walking

"Can we go to the arcade?" Ichigo asked

Sakura looked at him strangely but nodded plainly

It looked like Sakura was actually opening up a little; she wasn't as unapproachable as everyone actually thought she was. If that's so then why did she have that constant look on her face?

They went to the arcade; they got some tokens and started playing; Sakura first wanted to try the whack a mole game with Ichigo before they began playing air hockey. Despite that it was only now and then Ichigo actually thought he was starting to see a smile on her face.

"I'm going to win this one Sakura" Ichigo smirked slightly it's been a while since he came to the arcade.

"Don't bet on it Ichigo" Sakura replied a little upbeat now about it as she served the puck over to his side only to have him hit it back. She leaned over to table to get a better chance of hitting the puck faster as it came to her. Ichigo hit it back to her going back and forth from each other. They were soon tied nine-nine just one more point. Sakura passed the puck back to him before he passed it on to her. Despite how serious she looked while playing there was a slight gleam in her eyes that wasn't there before.

"Ichigo!" a voice called before a figure bumped into Ichigo making him trip slightly giving Sakura the chance to hit the puck and win the game.

"I win" she stated smirking a little now but she quickly wiped it off her face

"That's not fair" Ichigo said he looked down on the floor at Keigo who he knocked to the floor. "What are you doing here Kaigo?"

Standing up Keigo glared at him "What am I doing here? What are you doing here with the new hot chick? On a date are we? I never thought-

"Shut up" Ichigo groaned "I'm showing her around town"

"Ah" Keigo yelled and pointed at him "So you are on a date? You selfish sneak! You're dating one of the hottest chicks in school and you didn't even tell me"

Sakura's smirk vanished as she glared at Keigo "Um; we aren't-

"Tell me something Ichigo how in the world did you get a girl like Sakura to go out with-

He continued ranting on while Ichigo just attempted to block him out of his head; he sighed and hit Keigo hard on the head "Shut up will ya; come on Sakura's let's go"

* * *

Sakura and Ichigo decided head over to the mall for lunch; they stopped at the food court after finally losing Kaigo. Ichigo was still fuming about it.

"Man that guy really needs to stop jumping to conclusions" Ichigo sighed heavily and bit into his burger "Sorry about that"

Sakura shook her head "Thanks for treating"

"Sure no problem" Ichigo replied coolly

Ichigo nodded and took a sip of his soda "But I think this is kinda just like a date don't you think?" she stated bluntly

Spitting out his soda Ichigo stared wide eye at her "T-That's-

"That's what?" she asked him leaning with her hand on her chin

Ichigo shook his head "Nothing forget it"

"Ok" she said calmly making Ichigo twitch a little agitated by her

After finishing their meal they all got ready to leave "So anywhere else?" Sakura asked placing a hand on her hip

Ichigo stood up "Uh; well" he scratched the back of his head "I'm really not sure where else; I think we could go see a movie or something but I didn't really plan on becoming a tour guide to be honest"

"If you didn't plan on becoming a tour guide then why'd you offer to show me around in the first place?" Sakura asked

"Hey that's not a very nice thank you" Ichigo shot back at her

Narrowing her eyes softly she looked at him "Thank you; I actually do appreciate it"

Once again he was taken back every time she got that look on her face you would think she was going to get mad or something but then she says what you least expect.

Ichigo nodded in reply; the two of them went to go and check what movies were playing and were trying to decide what to watch.

"Hey this just came out" Sakura pointed

Ichigo looked at it "The Conjuring" he murmured looking at her a little surprised "Why that?" Ichigo asked curiously

Sakura shrugged "I'm not sure just seems interesting"

Actually it was almost funny; laughable even because it meant watching someone else slay monsters instead of her. It gave her a sense of relaxation because it was like someone else was working hard instead of her.

* * *

After getting the tickets and popcorn they headed into the cinema taking their seats. As the lights went off Ichigo looked around and noticed that there were a few couples around them; the girls clinging to their boyfriends; any guess would be it was the guys who chose the movie to get the girls to do that and the movie hadn't even started yet at least he didn't have to worry about the couples making out at least he hoped the sight of blood and decaying bodies ruined that mood.

The movie started and about an hour into it half of the people were whining and whimpering about it. Ichigo and Sakura watched the movie in silence for a while; Ichigo let his eyes wander over to Sakura's face alright he had to admit Keigo was right she was really pretty but with her demeanour she made it so that nearly no one could approach her.

He just turned back to watching the screen it wasn't like this was a bad thing in any case but if anyone saw then here they would think they were on a date and rumours would spread for sure. Unknowingly to Ichigo there were actually a couple of students from the school there themselves but steered clear from him. So let's say that this little 'date' was to remain a secret so naturally the whole school would know soon.

When the movie ended everyone started making their way out of the cinema. Sakura and Ichigo stood up.

"Oh sorry about that" Sakura

They walked out of the mall together Sakura glanced at her watch and sighed "Joy it's already seven and I still have to go grocery shopping I can't believe I forgot guess I had so much fun it slipped my mind"

"You had fun?" Ichigo asked surprised she didn't look like a person who's just enjoyed her day

Sakura nodded "Yes; thank you Ichigo. I have to get going now see you around"

Ichigo looked at her "Uh….." he started thinking about how he was going to say this without looking like he was coming on which he wasn't really "My sisters a great cook and usually makes more than enough to go around. You can eat dinner at my house if you want just to warn you though my dad's a real nut job"

Sakura narrowed her eyes again with an unsure look on her face this time.

* * *

They got to Ichigo's house and everyone was already home; Sakura saw that his family ran the local clinic at first she thought that Ichigo's last name was familiar.

"I'm home" Ichigo said

"Hey welcome back" Karin said coming down the stairs; she looked over at Sakura "Who's this?"

"This is Sakura" Ichigo said calmly

"When did you get a girlfriend?" Karin asked slightly shocked; she did say once that he had to bring someone at least as hot as Orihime to surprise her and boy was she surprised he pulled it off.

Ichigo gritted his teeth "She's not-

"You're late" someone shouted and the next thing you knew Ichigo hit the wall on the other side of the house. Sakura looked a little taken back but quickly put on a blank face clearly not knowing that this was routine in here. Sakura saw a man with dark spikey hair about in his forties standing over Ichigo.

"You dropped your guard" he said

Ichigo stood up "Geez dad could you at least try and control yourself in front of guests?" he asked

"You alright Ichigo?" she asked him folding her arms over her chest

The moment was ruined once again by his dear family; his father gaped at Sakura.

"Uh this is Sakura; she staying over for dinner. Hope that's alright Yuzu?" Ichigo asked

Yuzu smiled and nodded "Of course; I made more than enough; it's nice to meet you Miss Sakura"

Ichigo tensed a little thinking about Sakura's response "Just call me Sakura please" she bowed calmly "It's a pleasure to meet you"

"Oh hey now I remember Sakura Haruno; you're that new hot chick at Ichigo's school" Karin said in a monotone "So how did you pick her up Ichigo?"

Ichigo glared at her; he was going to get her back for this one way or another and how on earth did she know about Sakura she must really be popular.

"You're just in time to" Yuzu said walking to the set table "Dinner's already finished; I hope you like curry"

Sakura nodded and sat down beside Ichigo and Karin who was staring her a bit strangely but they didn't really notice. They ate in a ruckus of course; with Ichigo and his dad fighting and Yuzu asking all these questions to Sakura who wasn't sure how to answer most of them since they involved her brother what Sakura wasn't able to tell Yuzu was that she and Ichigo were just friends because she was constantly blubbering.

"So Sakura where did you live before you came here?" Yuzu asked

After chewing and swallowing her food she turned to Yuzu "Well I've lived lots of places before this; Okinawa's one of them" she stated

"Wow" Yuzu gasped getting really bubbly now "That's amazing"

"Thanks" she replied in her typical bored tone

"So you and Ichigo were on a date all day?" Karin asked knowing it was going to piss off her brother which it did. He almost choked on his food and glared at Karin.

"It wasn't a date we were just hanging out" he defended

"Where did you go?" Yuzu asked

"All over town; then to the arcade; then for lunch and then to the movies" she replied to them narrowing her eyes as she ate

Ichigo's dad went over to the poster of his wife and cried dramatically "Oh my dear wife; our son's growing up so fast!"

"Would you knock it off" Ichigo yelled at him "Don't do that in front of company or people are going to think there's something wrong with you and send you to a mental institution!"

* * *

After a very disturbing but active dinner Sakura offered to help clean up the dishes but Yuzu declined her offer not wanting to impose on a guest she told her. Sakura and Ichigo went up to his room for a little while; Ichigo sat down on his chair by his desk and sighed.

"Sorry about my family" he said

Sakura looked around his room it was a bit empty; there wasn't much in it; there was a built in closet; his bed was by the window and his desk was right opposite it.

"There's nothing to apologise for" she said leaning against his wall

Ichigo sighed "Yeah but they have this habit of always over doing things" he said

"It's been a while since I've had any experience like this in a while"

"What you mean like a family dinner?" Ichigo asked

Sakura nodded and then he remembered she lived alone and didn't have any real family and with her stoic attitude towards everyone she didn't have anyone.

"Sorry" Ichigo muttered thinking he hit a sore spot of hers but she didn't flinch

"No need to apologise for that either" Sakura told him holding her hand up; she was used to being alone.

'And that's how it should stay' she told herself

"it's really late I should get going" she said moving back from the wall

"Hey come on I'll walk you home" he offered

Sakura shook her head "No thanks; I know my way home"

"Well yeah but-

"And if you're worried about me walking home late at night don't be" she told him coldly and then he remembered the Kendo and Judo case.

"It's not that; it just wouldn't sit well with me if I knew I let you go home alone and I'm not gonna take no for an answer" he told her making his way through the door "You coming?" he asked her

"You're actually really pushy aren't you? I told you I didn't want any knights in shining armour coming to my rescue or protecting me" she said to him as she walked after him

"I know and believe me I'm not trying to play the part of a hero or anything; I'm just doing it because it's common courtesy" he said "And besides it's not like I actually give a crap about what you want"

Sakura clicked her tongue annoyed; what was up with this guy? She didn't understand him at all but then again she really shouldn't be bothering right.

* * *

The trip to her home was a silent one; in ten minutes Sakura and Ichigo reached her apartment. She unlocked the door.

"Thanks" she muttered "Though it wasn't necessary"

"No problem" Ichigo replied to her brushing off her last sentence

Sakura unlocked her door and opened it; just as she was about to close the door she looked up at Ichigo and said "Goodnight"

"Goodnight" Ichigo said walking off when she closed the door; just as she closed the door his badge started to buzz and he knew it meant another hollow.

"Great" he sighed just how he wanted to end his evening

* * *

A few minutes later Sakura had taken out the hollow in a few short minutes; she re-sheathed her sword again and started heading back. She extended her arms up into the air. That hollow that showed up today was different though from the others but she didn't have a problem taking it down; it seemed a bit stronger than the others but she took it out. Sakura smiled happily and looked up at the night's sky.

"This is the best way to end my evening" she smiled happily; she only ever really smiled like this when no one was looking and when she had a reason to. It wasn't just the thought of killing the hollow that made her happy it was about her day; she couldn't help the grin that finally spread across her face.

Sakura lied down on the field of grass near the lake by the bridge of town. Sakura heard something and saw something dark suddenly fly over her head. Sakura's eyes widened; she saw something land on the other side of the lake and she hoped she was hallucinating at what she was seeing. A shihakusho; a huge sword; spikey orange hair; she actually thought she was seeing Ichigo before her but that wasn't possible right? Sakura stood up; eyes wide at the site.

'He's….like me?' she wondered staring at his back 'What the hell?' Sakura broke into a run before disappearing before Ichigo could look back in her direction.

* * *

Later that night Sakura couldn't sleep; thinking about what she saw Sakura wanted to know why Ichigo had appeared there. Sakura thought she was the only one with that strange power but now she realised that there was another maybe more; she cursed her luck. What does this mean for her now; if Ichigo really was like her then would that mean

well she would have to find out on school on Monday. Sakura cursed; just when she was getting close to Ichigo one little event like this had her running away. Now she was more confused than ever; she wanted to know what he was; she wanted an explanation but at the same time was sure how she would be able to face him. No she couldn't confront him about it because then that would mean exposing her secret; it wasn't worth the risk.

* * *

Just as expected Monday came too fast. Ichigo had been wondering where Sakura was; they had to hand in their assignment in and he wanted to see her hoping she was going to be a little easier to get along with. Class had started and Sakura still hasn't shown up that day.

"Hey; have any of you seen Sakura?" Ichigo asked Orihime and his friends

"No" Mizuiro said "Why are you looking for her?"

Ichigo's eyes trailed off "Um our assignment is due for today and she has it at her place" he explained

"Yeah right" Keigo said pointing at him accusingly "I saw him and Sakura at the mall; they were on a date!"

"Seriously?" Mizuiro asked a little shocked "I'm actually surprised I mean I know she's pretty and everything but she's nearly unapproachable so how'd you do it?"

Ichigo shrugged "I don't know"

Urihu came in "Seems like you finally found your hormones Ichigo" he commented; Ichigo glared at him

"We weren't on a date" he told them quickly; he sat down in his seat; he really didn't want to deal with this right now.

"I have an exciting announcement" the teacher said once everyone had taken their seats "A transfer student will be joining our class" everyone gasped

Ichigo was looking at his soul pass it suddenly started making a noise making him jump in his seat. Orihime; Chad and Urihu were watching him and knew it was a hollow.

"Something wrong Ichigo?" Mizuiro asked from his desk; Ichigo turned to him

"Uh it's nothing really….little gas" he told him

"Hey please be quiet" the teacher ordered going to open the door "This is exciting having another transfer student"

She opened the door "You can come in now" she said but there wasn't anyone in the hall she looked back and forth confused; at that moment Ichigo slipped past her and started running off down the hall way.

"Hey Ichigo where are you going?" the teacher asked  
"To the rest room" he yelled

"The rest room; yeah right" she sighed

Orihime and Chad started running off as well after him "Hey where are you two going?" she demanded

"The rest room" they replied

"Orihime shame on you" the teacher yelled after her "Don't you know it's improper for a young lady to be running to the rest room like that"

"But I'm about to pee my pants" she said not really thinking about what she just said

"Go on then and come right back" the teacher ordered

Keigo was about to run after them but the teacher pulled him back.

* * *

Sakura sighed; she didn't feel like going to school today; she wasn't going to but then she remembered the assignment she and Ichigo had to hand in; so she waited until the first three periods where over before going to school. Her trip was cut short when she had another monster alert and had to transform. She left her body hoping it would be safe for at least a few minutes. Hopefully she wasn't going to be reported that happened before the last time she was found.

There it was; a monster with a hard skull like white mask with a snake like body; as it slithered over to her Sakura avoided it and jumped into the air before unsheathing her sword and bringing it down splitting it in the middle of its skull before it evaporated into nothing. Sakura smiled but that was cut short when she felt another one coming.

Then her head snapped to one side; she was feeling something but it wasn't like the others she felt. This wasn't giving her a sense of danger; it wasn't giving her comfort either but it was heading her way and not wanting to be there when it showed up she hid therefore she would also be able to see what it was. Then she saw a flash of orange.


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok I've finally reached chapter five of What hurts the most; now I'm hoping that this one is a bit better than the previous chapters and I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks for pointing out a few mistakes I made now please **

**READ AND ENJOY**

* * *

Ichigo came face to face with a hollow with a pig face mask coming right at him; it shot out spirit beams but he defended with his sword though it did take him back a few steps.

Orihime and Chad watched him fight "The hollows are still around"

"I'm afraid the hollows will exist forever as long as there are humans around to feed off" Chad said in a monotone voice

Ichigo killed the hollow quickly and landed back on the ground; he turned around and looked at his friends "Well look who showed up; you guys didn't trust me to take care of the hollow on my own but you didn't have to skip class for it"

"There was more than one" Chad replied

"What?" Ichigo asked

"There was another hollow here but it's gone now" he told Ichigo who had never been very good at sensing sprit energy like his friends

"Well we should head back" he told them and they nodded but something caught Ichigo's attention in the corner of his eye; he saw a flash of pink and watched as it vanished around the corner. He started running over to it.

"Ichigo where are you going" Orihime asked

"I have to check something you guys go one ahead without me" he told them and started speeding off after what ever it was he just saw.

Sakura panted as she turned a corner and stopped running; she hoped Ichigo didn't see her. Sakura sighed in relief and smiled when she thought she was alone. Looks like her secret was safe another day and then she realised she left her body lying around in the other direction from where she had run; what if they see her?

'Oh damn' she cursed face palming herself

"Sakura" a voice behind her called and she jumped slightly turning around so fast she thought she was going to give herself whip lash.

"Ichigo" Sakura said looking at him in his spirit form; she took a step back from him "What's going on?" she asked him

"That's what I want to know" he said frowning slightly "How in the hell can you see me?"

Sakura shrugged carelessly putting on her stoic expression "I don't know what you mean; I've always been able to see you; you're orange hair's hard to miss"

Ichigo frowned forgetting to stick to the point at that moment "Hey so is that pink mop on your head" he said and then started looking over her attire and realised she was wearing a soul reapers uniform and he spotted a substitute soul reaper cobat pass around her neck. Sakura noticed him looking over her and for some reason started to actually feel self conscious about it. She wrapped her arms around herself and glared at him; people have never been able to see her before in the few years she's been doing this so how could he?

"Hey quit staring so awe struck pervert" she shot at him

Ichigo snapped out of it "Hey I'm not a pervert I'm just surprised; why are you dressed like that? Don't tell me you're a soul reaper to"

Sakura cocked her eyebrow "Soul reaper?" she asked

Ichigo nodded "Yeah you know a soul reaper; fights hollows; from the soul society come on you know all of this right how else can it explain why you're dressed like that; carrying a zampakuto and are able to see me not to mention that" he pointed at her combat pass; he reached into his Shihakusho pulling out his soul reaper pass "See I have one to"

Sakura was mentally spinning but stayed calm "I don't know what you're talking about" she said

Ichigo frowned "Oh yeah then how come you're dressed like a soul reaper?"

"I don't know what a soul reaper is but I'm pretty sure I'm not one" she stated though on the inside she was really freaking out "I'm just doing some cos play"

'Idiot' a small voice inside of her head whispered 'What kind of an excuse is that?'

"Yeah right" Ichigo said rolling his eyes "Sure that's the same thing I'm doing"

"Then we're both in agreement" Sakura said walking past him

"Hey hold it" Ichigo said reaching out for her but Sakura started to run off without saying another word.

"Hey" Ichigo chased after her "Wait a minute Sakura!" but she just kept running through the streets without turning back to face him.

She vanished around a corner and as Ichigo followed after her when he turned the corner she was gone not a trace of her in sight. He cursed as he started to look around to see if he could spot a shade of pink anywhere but there was nothing eventually he gave up.

'It's not like she can avoid me at school' he thought

* * *

Sakura sighed in relief when she saw Ichigo vanish; she had hidden around another corner where she placed her body before he could find her. Now she was back in her human form and had many questions running through her head. What was Ichigo talking about when he mentioned soul reapers and how did he get powers like her as much as she wanted an explanation at the same time she wasn't too sure about trusting Ichigo about this.

'How am I going to get out of this one?' she thought looking at her watch; she realised she had to get to school again but she was going to do whatever it took to avoid Ichigo and his friends no matter what.

They made it back to class on time surprisingly where there teacher was introducing the new student Shinji Hirako; he looked rather odd to them; he had light blonde hair cut in a bob; and light brown eyes. He was introducing himself and he wrote his name the wrong way around saying it was an unusual skill of his. Ichigo was busy thinking about Sakura and her situation she was sitting at the window opposite him in English class now; she was ignoring his glances even though he knew she was aware he was watching her but she refused to meet his gaze but after a while he just chose to stop or else it was going to start looking creepy. Ichigo was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice when Shinji went over to sit at the desk on the other side of Ichigo.

"Well looks like you and I are gonna be neighbours; I hope we can be friends" he said sitting down beside Ichigo

Ichigo looked at him strangely "Yeah; yeah sure thing" he said unsurely

When class ended Sakura was walking straight out of the class room door but Ichigo was right on her tail.

"Hey Sakura hold on" he called after her and surprisingly she stopped in the middle of the hall way

"What?" she asked him

"Hey don't 'what' me; you know 'what'" Ichigo said "I want to know what all that was about; why'd you run off?"

Sakura shrugged "I was gonna be late for school"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes "That's the best excuse you can come up with Sakura? If you were worried about that you would've been here this morning"

Sakura clicked her tongue and folded her arms over her chest; she frowned as Ichigo glared annoyed by her silence "Hey what were you doing there?"

"Why is it any of your business?" Sakura asked him walking off "Just leave me alone"

* * *

Ichigo frowned and watched as she left not doing anything to stop her as she vanished behind.

"No I don't wanna live like this anymore!" Kon shouted "I wanna go out and meet girls with bodacious bodies!"

Yup schools ended and it was nearly seven at night and Ichigo was dealing with an annoying Kon who was yelling and whining once again as usual. He had been pissed off after he got out of Yuzu's hands and back to Ichigo's room. While this was the last thing Ichigo wanted because he was equally pissed off; he couldn't believe that Sakura just gave him the brush off like that; he wanted to know how it was possible that there was another substitute soul reaper right under everyone's noses yet no one told him about it.

"A cute little guy like me would be a chick magnet but I'm stuck inside" he whined stomping making a squeaky noise

"You look even better with a sock in your mouth" Ichigo shot back losing his train of thought "Be quiet or everyone in the whole house will hear you"

Kon pointed a fluffy paw at him "You're just angry because you're not cuddly; one way or another party animals getting out of here; this town better lock up all the ladies and this lion aint lying. I miss being in your body all that peeping in windows and under skirts didn't ruin my reputation in only ruined yours" he said

Ichigo snapped and glared at the stuffed lion "Dammit Kon that had better be a joke! Don't tell me that you were doing something illegal out there"

"Being locked up was bearable when Rukia was around…..Rukia please come back!" Kon cried

"Dammit Kon I'm tired or hearing you complain" Ichigo shot; then his soul reaper combat pass stared going off he changed into a soul reaper then put Kon into his body.

"Here it goes" he sighed "I always worry about what kind of shape my body will be in when I get back"

"Try not to get my body arrested and behave" Ichigo ordered before jumping out the window but god he still couldn't help but worry.

"Goodbye" Kon said "Take your time. Ah; it's been a while since I've been in this body" he said thinking of a few things he could do before Ichigo got back and beat the crap out of him.

* * *

Sakura felt a hollows spiritual pressure and had transformed to go take care of it; she was running through the town on top of the roofs but then it suddenly vanished again. She guessed Ichigo had gotten ahead of her; at least for her it meant she wouldn't be running into him for now. Now that he knew her secret she didn't feel the need to rush around all the time but she wouldn't slack off either; she just had to make sure she was either fast enough to get the job done before he showed up or to just take her time if he was there before her.

Sakura was about to head on back when a sword came flying in out of now where and tried to strike her; she dodged it right on time. Sakura saw a young girl with short blonde hair tied in pigtails; wearing a pink baggy pants and jacket and holding a zampakuto but Sakura recognised it as a sword similar to her own.

'What the heck?' Sakura thought reaching for her sword "Who are you?" Sakura demanded taking out her sword

'Another one; just what the heck is up with this town?'

The girl didn't flinch at Sakura's cold tone "I'd be careful you dunts" the girl snapped "You shouldn't get so worked up or it'll spike that spirit energy of yours and you'll be drawing in hollows"

Sakura glared at her and pointed her sword at her "What do you want?"

The girl swung her sword at Sakura so fast that she barely had time to counter with her own sword; sparks flew from the blades as they clashed but Sakura was having trouble matching this girls movements Sakura was knocked back by her; the girl came back at Sakura again and before she could connect Sakura chanted something and a blue shield in the shape of a snow flake appeared defending herself from the girl.

She backed off again and looked at Sakura "Interesting" she muttered

"Who are you?" Sakura asked her again

"I'm Hiyori" the girl said placing a hand on her hip

"Why are you attacking me; Hiyori?" Sakura asked again getting a bit irritated now actually she was beyond that point it was a very off day for her.

Hiyori smirked and moved at a last moment slashing Sakura just a little under her bangs making the left side of her face bleed.

Sakura hissed and attacked Hiyori and knocked her back "Not bad" she smiled

"I'm not done yet" Sakura said coming back at her again; she held out her sword "Now Hunt Kuresento Kage Rozu (Crescent shadow rose)"

A scythe appeared in the place of Sakura's sword; it had a large blade with a chain attached at the bottom of its hilt. Sakura swung her scythe at Hiyori but she blocked her with her own sword. Sakura leapt back tightening the hold on her. Hiyori smirked

"Now that's better; if you want to fight so badly I'll give it to you but first; I want to show you something" she said before something white started to form on the girls head; Sakura stared in awe as white; clay like substance started to form a mask…a hollow mask.

"What the?" Sakura gasped; she had never seen anything like this before this whole thing was getting too strange for her

"What are you?" Sakura asked still in disbelief

Hiyori smirked "I'm a visored; just like you. Sakura"

Sakura bit her bottom lip debating with herself whether or not she should reply but in the end she just decided to ask "What's a visored?" she asked

"Wow you really don't know anything do you?" she asked Sakura who gave her a strange look Hiyori frowned.

"A visored is a soul reaper that has gained the powers of a hollow through the form of its mask" Hiyori explained to her "Tell me have you ever had this voice just calling out to you in your mind? Have you seen her inside of you?"

Sakura's eyes widened; she wasn't entirely sure what this girl was getting at but she was right; she began thinking back not more than a few years ago.

_It was a warm summers day in Okinawa and a eleven year old Sakura Haruno was walking home from school after spending a late day there after getting another bully from some people making fun of her hair; she was tired but she didn't want to go home just yet because the sooner she got home the sooner she would have those dreams again. Ever since she was a child Sakura had lived most of her life in an orphanage; she didn't know much about her origin story other than she was found near a lake. When she was six Sakura had realised she wasn't a normal girl; she could see the dead and they were everywhere she always saw ghosts almost everywhere she went and because of this she had done her best to avoid cemetery's but now she was having dreams as well; dreams about monsters coming for her and voices calling her name telling her to call out there's but she never knew what that meant and before long she would wake up. _

_Sakura looked over at a lake in the middle of a field; it wasn't where she was found she knew that much but it was the only place she could go where she didn't have to listen to that sound calling her name all those voices in her head; she didn't tell anyone about them though especially Kayo or he might think there was something wrong with her and send her back. _

_She walked up to the lake and sat down 'What's the matter with me?' she asked herself again; she had asked that so many times but no answer ever came for her. _

"_Am I a freak?" she said out loud _

_Then she heard it again; something inside of her 'Sakura….' It was so clear yet there was no one there _

"_No please" Sakura whispered "Don't come here as well; I don't want that" _

"_Please" the voice murmured and Sakura gasped; her eyes began to glow yellow as she opened them she was in another place; not by the lake where she was; it was different. Sakura looked around her. _

"_What is this place?" she asked herself; it was a forest unlike any other there were trees with all different colour petals constantly falling from the wind and though there was a black sky it was still clear as day and ice covered the ground with lava lakes…but it wasn't hot at all. This world was both beautiful and terrifying. _

"_Where am I?" she asked again _

"_Welcome" a voice greeted _

_Sakura turned around and saw a girl with short red hair; silver eyes she was wearing a red hood and black dress with stockings. She completely clashed with the surroundings. _

"_Who are you?" Sakura asked _

_The girl smiled "You should know who I am; you made me" _

"_What?" Sakura gasped "I didn't make-_

"_You made me" the girl said again _

"_Where did you come from?" Sakura asked _

_The girl looked around and raised her arms "From here silly; your world" _

"_My world?" Sakura looked more confused now than ever _

_The girl nodded "Yes that's right; this is your world" _

"_I don't get it" Sakura sighed rubbing her eyes _

"_Neither do I" the girl said again _

"_Are you alone here?" Sakura asked looking around _

"_Not exactly" another voice said _

_Sakura turned around and out of now where Sakura saw a girl with long white hair; yellow eyes and clothed in white but her face…it was hers! _

"_What?" Sakura stuttered "Who are you?" _

_The hollow Sakura looked at her "I don't know….." she said "You made me so shouldn't you also name me?" _

"_And me you know my name right?" the red hooded girl asked _

_Sakura looked back and forth between the two "What's going on?"_

_Her other version looked pissed off and smacked her head _

"_OH what was that for I just asked a question" Sakura said frowning a little _

"_We don't know we thought you did" the red headed girl replied _

"_Hey back off red; I wanted to talk to her first" the hollow Sakura said _

_Sakura sat down on the icy ground but it wasn't cold at all "Kyo; get me out of here" she murmured _

"_Hello" hollow Sakura called "Um; you talking?" _

"_I don't understand this at all" Sakura whined "Why am I here in this world; why is there another person who looks like me only a lot paler" _

"_Hey I'm not pale!" hollow Sakura snapped smack her over her head again _

"_Sorry" Sakura said still confused about everything _

_The red hooded girl came over to Sakura "You've heard us calling you right; in your dreams?" _

_Sakura gasped "T-That was you?" _

_They nodded; hollow Sakura rubbed the back of her head "Yeah; sorry about that but I really don't get all of this crap so we really needed someone to clear things up but it looks like even our own creator doesn't understand" _

"_Not in the least sorry so are you going to tell me your names?" _

"_What are you stupid or something?" the hollow Sakura asked "We're you're creations you should know our names or if not mine then at least hers" she pointed _

"_Oh…." Sakura said "Can I name you then if I already know hers?" she asked her hollow version _

_She nodded "Sure thing; I guess but don't give me a stupid name or I'll be pissed" _

"_How about…."_

It wasn't long after that first encounter that things began to change for Sakura when she turned thirteen that was the first time she transformed but she's never been able to form a mask like this girl was able to. Instead of helping to clear things up for Sakura it was just creating more confusion than ever for her.

"You're one of us Sakura and so is Ichigo Kurosaki"

Sakura was getting more curious now about what all of this was about "Like you?"

"Yeah that's right" Hiyori said "You just seem more naïve"

Sakura held up her scythe threateningly "I don't understand"

Hiyori shook her head "Man you're a pain in the ass" she sighed "You really are a naïve little girl" Hiyori smirked "If you and Ichigo ask Shinji then we can give you the answers. That is if you want to know who you really are"

"What would be the price?" Sakura asked narrowing her eyes

"You'd join us; come on you know the truth Sakura you're not like any of them" Hiyori stated

Sakura's frown deepened "I'm not sure I like what you're implying"

"Come on; you're nothing like those fools you spend every day around" Hiyori said; she pointed her sword out at Sakura "Come with us and we'll show you what it means to be a visored and we'll teach you how to become even more powerful than ever; we'll teach you to become your true self"

Sakura changed her scythe back into a normal sword and put it away; she looked up at Hiyori with her usual stoic face but it looked like Hiyori was giving her look right back at her "So what do you say?"

There was a sudden burst of spiritual pressure that was felt from afar; Sakura and Hiyori looked towards the area where it was felt.

"What the heck?" she asked she felt Ichigo's spirit energy and someone else's

"Looks like Shinji and Ichigo are hitting it off to" Hiyori said

Sakura frowned; she jumped back and landed on a roof top; Hiyori looked at her with a frown "Hey where do you think you're going?"

Sakura turned around "I'm not interested" she stated glaring at Hiyori

"What?" Hiyori shouted looking a bit furious now "What did you say?"

"I don't like to repeat myself" she said crossing her arms over her chest; her glare deepened "I don't want anything to do with you; or Ichigo or Shinji or you little group"

With that Sakura started skipping from one roof top to the other "Hey you little-

She heard Hiyori's voice calling after her angrily but she didn't bother to take a second glance back.

There was another feeling of spiritual pressure but there was more than one again; Sakura didn't bother to go and take a look. She had a feeling she would be running into a lot more trouble than she bargained for if she did; getting Ichigo off her back was going to be hard enough.

* * *

"A zampakuto?" Ichigo looked shocked at Shinji who just jumped out of nowhere after he had a conflict with a hollow. He thought that Sakura would be showing up but instead Shinji was the one who came. This day was getting better and better for him.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked Shinji

Shinji smiled and held a finger to his lip "You mustn't make too much noise Ichigo those who have spiritual pressure like you need to learn to stay calm or your presence will be felt"  
"Felt by who?" Ichigo asked

"It seems I need everything to be out in the open for you to understand it" he sighed "Children are so foolish and blind"

Ichigo pushed back away from him and Shinji stood in the air looking to the side "It's here" there was another burst of spiritual energy

"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo asked not noticing "Hirako answer me!" he demanded

"I already explained it" Shinji said waving his finger "You're the one to blame it's all because you were releasing your spiritual pressure" he said

"I demand that you tell me who you are" Ichigo said glaring at him

"You're a pain you know that?" Shinji smiled "With all that's going on you only care who I am; then take a good look"

He put his hand on his head and spiritual pressure started forming a hollow mask that looked like a hollows mask.

"Try and guess if you can" Shinji said putting one side of the mask on his face

"A hollows mask?" Ichigo stared in disbelief

"Yes a zampakuto and a hollow mask; you get it now?" he asked

Ichigo stared in shock as the memories of the times he had formed a mask on his face and went insane "I'm a soul reaper who's crossed over into the realm of the hollows. You remember what I told you right?"

Ichigo thought back to when Shinji said he hoped that the two of them could be friends.

"You see I'm a visored; you're one of us Ichigo" Shinji smiled "You do not belong with them you have got to know that you do not belong with them at all"

Ichigo suddenly felt a surge of strange spiritual pressure it was huge but there was something different about it. He wasn't sure what it was. Shinji looked at him and wondered if he just sensed the hollow and Shinji noticed about two other soul reapers spiritual pressures.

Ichigo suddenly started flying off "Hey wait a minute" Shinji called after him "Where do you think you're going you better get back here right now; I'm not finished talking to you yet"

"No thanks" Ichigo said

"Hey didn't you hear what I said?" Shinji asked

"Yeah I heard you and I'm not interested in anything you have to say I don't want to join your stupid club and I don't want to be your friend so why don't you and your visored organisation get the hell out of my town"

Ichigo placed a hand on his chest "I'm a soul reaper you got that? I'm not one of you"

Shinji sighed as he ran off "This guy's not going to make it easy for me is he?" he took out his phone and called "Yeah hello? I'm here to give a progress report…he didn't go for it" there was suddenly a loud noise coming from the phone and he pulled it back "Stop shouting in my ear will you it wasn't my fault; look don't worry it's only a matter of time just try to be patient and by the way how did your little mission go?"

There was silence on the other end of the line "Ha; I knew it" he stopped "These two are really going to be a hassle aren't they?"

**Alright I'm finally done editing the chapters and I promise chapter six will be up soon so for now please REVIEW. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok everyone hope you enjoy this chapter; I've been working on fixing it and I'm going to be posting the seventh one up really soon. **

**Read and Enjoy**

* * *

The next morning Ichigo was sitting in class thinking over the events of last night he wondered who the other spiritual pressures belonged to? When he had gotten there who ever it was had gone. He was also thinking about Hirako. He was still pissed at him. As if things weren't bad enough he still hadn't sorted out this thing with Sakura. Speaking of which she had arrived early today as well and had already been sitting at her desk when he arrived at school. He was so wound up thinking about Shinji he didn't even attempt to question her this morning.

The door opened and Orihime came in "Hello Ichigo good morning" she said happily

"Hey there Ichigo good morning" Shinji said coming out of nowhere beside her

'I don't believe it; Hirako showed up like nothing happened' he thought

Orihime looked over at Shinji "Oh good morning you're Shinji Hirako right?"

"Wow you remembered my name; I can't believe it" he said happily hugging Orihime as Keigo stared in disbelief

"What is this just what do you think you're doing?" Keigo pointed at him angrily

"What's going on?" Shinji asked frowning "Who's making all that noise? Who in the hell are you?"

"What do you mean who am I? You got a lot of nerve asking that; you act like you're best friends with the people in this class I've known them a lot longer than you have Mr Jonny come lately"

Mizuiro smiled "Already shot down; I see?"

"Get your hands off of her you pervert she obviously doesn't like it" Keigo shouted at him

"Are you crazy?" Shinji asked "If she didn't like it she would've screamed or hit me over the head with her book bag but she didn't do any of that which is proof that she's not uncomfortable" keeping his sword on his shoulder

"Are you implying that I'm the one that's out of line?" Keigo said in disbelief

Keigo suddenly felt someone squeeze his shoulder tightly and he was looking at a very dangerous angry Chizuru. "Don't worry I've got you back; leave this to me he won't bother us anymore" she looked deadly now "He has to pay right Orihime is too sweet a girl to say anything even if she's being treated badly a creep like you that takes advantage of her good nature and indiscriminately goes around hugging her does not deserve to live"

Keigo looked afraid "Um; I know this isn't something you want to hear right now Chizuru but following your logic you should be the one who gets wiped out"

"I am the hands of Justice" she yelled

"Maybe you could just let him off with a warning?" Keigo squeaked

Ichigo stood up and walked over to Shinji grabbing him by the collar "Hey come here a second"

Everyone else looked at him shocked they couldn't believe he just done that; Sakura and Orihime stared at him as he left the class room.

* * *

Ichigo shoved Shinji against the wall of the school "Maybe you're not aware of it but that really hurt! Anyway what are you getting so mad about it's not like Orihime's your girlfriend from what I heard you were dating Sakura right? I'm actually surprised that hotty would give you the time of day"

"Shut the hell up; Sakura and I are not dating" he glared at him "And I expect you to apologise to Orihime when you get back in there"

"That's a matter of opinion" Shinji replied looking to the side "But any way you don't have the right to be telling me what to do" he stuck his tongue out at him

"Hirako" Ichigo glared at him "All I want to know is what the hell you think you're doing here."

"Well that's a stupid question" he said "I'm a student and I have to go to school" he stated like it was the most obvious thing to say"

"You have one reason for coming to this school it was to somehow recruit me into you ranks" he shouted back at Shinji "And if so you have no reason to be here anymore!"

"I'll be the judge of that" he said changing his tone "Surely you don't think I've given up on the two of you?" he asked

"Two?" Ichigo looked confused now "What are you talking about?"

"You'll find we don't give up so easily Ichigo" he said

"Wait who's we?" Ichigo said there was only Shinji there that night

"Oh so you didn't notice her spirit energy last night either?" he said

Ichigo's eyes widened; who was he talking about?

"Ichigo" Sakura called walking up to him; Ichigo looked at her when he did he noticed the band on the side of her head where Hiyori had wounded her.

"W-What happened to you?" Ichigo asked her

"Don't tell me you thought it was just me yesterday?" Shinji asked breaking Ichigo out of his trance

"Who did this to her?" Ichigo asked getting a little pissed now

Shinji looked at Sakura "OH yeah sorry about that my comrades can usually be very rough"

Sakura just stared at him with her usual frown

"Back to the matter of hand; you'll both find that we don't give up so easily; we're going to follow you around until you say yes plus Ichigo once the symptoms start showing it's ready too late. You're both already on our side" he told them

"You think all of those guys are friends of yours; well your wrong fact is their only your friends for the time being if you continue to be a soul reaper sooner or later you're going to be swallowed up by the hollow inside"

"Sakura to?" Ichigo asked "Is she a visored? Is that why she was attacked?"

Sakura didn't respond to either of them "She's a visored just like you Ichigo; you always wanted to know who you were right Sakura?" he asked looking at her

Sakura narrowed her eyes a little "Don't tell me neither of you noticed? Your inner hollow is starting to take control of you" Shinji said

"I don't know what you're talking about and I don't want to know. I'll tell you the same thing I told your friend; I'm not interested in joining your little group" she stated narrowing her eyes at him; she didn't even understand much about this inner hollow thing.

Shinji smiled "Well; well that's interesting all the more reason for you to join us; the fact that you're oblivious about all of this; it can very dangerous for you to stay this naïve about your powers"

He then looked over at Ichigo "And as for you; you're really need it; you should come with us Ichigo we'll teach you both how to save your sanity because Sakura you can't be sure that you're going to stay safe forever either even if your hollow hasn't been taking surface; your mask has never appeared before has it?"

Sakura frowned "I think I'll take the risk" she crossed her arms over her chest "And besides I never said I wanted to use that power"

As she said that she started to walk away from the two boys leaving them behind in the school hall way

Shinji walked down the street completely exhausted; after the run in with Sakura and Ichigo.

* * *

"Man" he whined "Why do I have to go to that stupid school and recruit those two that's not making the best use of my talents"

As he said that a yellow flip flop drew back and kicked Shinji in the back sending him flying across the road till he hit a brick wall.

"What the hell?" he hissed getting up; he turned around "Wait a minute who did that?" he stopped and gasped

"Hiyori?" he looked in disbelief

The girl took off her flip flop and smacked him with it "Why's it taking you so long to accomplish one lousy mission you dumb ass?" she shouted

"Sorry about that"

"Have you done anything?" she shouted grabbing hold of his head "Where's Ichigo Kurosaki and Sakura Haruno?" she yelled

"There are complications" he started nervously

"Complication?" she shouted "I don't like complications bring them here right now get off your butt and find some way to talk them into it" she demanded

"That's the problem I tried to talk them into it but they wouldn't listen to me and by the way it's not all my fault you were the one who went attacking her last night" Shinji pointed out

"Shut up" she yelled "If they don't cooperate then use force to make them join"

"What?" Shinji yelled "You were the one who told me to persuade them" he said

"There you are?" another familiar voice said the two visored's looked at the source and saw Orihime and Chad standing there.

"Orihime" Shinji said standing up

"Shinji" Hiyori started pointing at them and he came forward butt Hiyori grabbed his head and knocked it "Why was someone following you dipstick?"

"I knew" Orihime started "Even if I asked him direction Ichigo wouldn't tell me what was going on; he'd tell me there was nothing to be concerned about but that's not true and it also looks like Sakura has something to do with this as well" she said "So I thought I'd ask you Shinji who are you and what do you want with Sakura and Ichigo"

"Huh" Hiyori scoffed "You've got some nerve you think you can just ask and we'll tell you everything you wanna know"

They stood there silent for a while the four of them until Hiyori spoke "I'm Hiyori Sarogaki"

They looked at her strangely "Don't make me repeat it alright you two I told you my name now tell me yours"

"I'm Orihime Inoue"

"And I'm Yasutoro Sardou"

"A princess and a Tiger huh those are pretty impressive names"

The two friends peered at each other; Hiyori looked at them "Sorry I can't tell you anything"

"Why?" Orihime asked

Hiyori narrowed her eyes at Orihime and Chad before jumping up and taking off Shinji followed soon after her leaving the two humans puzzled.

* * *

"Order up" Sakura said placing the order down on the table; she had gone straight to work after school. With her usual work attire which was both alluring for customers and embarrassing for her as she wore her usual fake smile when serving customers; it was especially hard dealing with the lecherous ones and yet her boss says that she's actually bringing in more customers not that she cared as long as she got paid and then again there was also the very generous tips but oh god her dignity felt like it just got flushed away.

"Please call when if you need anything else" she smiled brightly at the customers who just flushed

"Of course Miss Sakura" they all said dreamily

'Oh god' Sakura mentally rolled her eyes; she says something as simple as that and they act like she asked them out on a date.

Sakura went back over to the counter; her boss came in "Hello Sakura how's things going?" she asked

"Just fine ma'am" Sakura sighed rubbing the back of her head "Although I could do without the lecherous stares"

The boss just smiled "Oh dear that's only because you're so pretty; now please remember to keep your stoic; deadly expressions for after work" she warned her

Sakura nodded; this woman was able to instantly see through Sakura's stoic façade but she only warned her that their policy was service with a smile. The owners name was Riku Anatei; she was a women in her early thirty's with short red hair and blue eyes; she was really nice to and even tolerated Sakura's demeanour the first time she met her.

"You really should smile more my dear" Riku said waving her hand

Sakura shook her head "That's really not my styled anymore"

"Oh dear you need to get yourself a boyfriend; I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard" Riku said

Sakura shook her head smiling a little; there was no way that was happening any time soon. It's not like she could tell Miss Riku that; after all no one other than Ichigo now knew her secret. All she ever really wanted from the start was a normal life; one where she couldn't see ghosts but after a while that thought just seemed to place itself in the back of her mind as she focused on slaying those monsters and keeping that part of her a secret.

"By the way Sakura I meant to say you can go home a bit early today" Riku said to her

She nodded "Ok thank you"

A few minutes later the café started clearing out and Sakura was staring to clean up; clearing the tables and cleaning up the windows and sweeping up the floors. All of this was keeping her mind off of the incident that night and the chat with Shinji. There was still a lot she didn't understand about but she didn't know if she should go and ask Ichigo about it. That would mean having to approach him and she already thought that she had made a mistake by allowing herself to go with him that week end but there was something about the way he just seemed to look at her that made it hard for her to say no. Even when she brushed him off it was harder than it usually was. She shook her head.

'No you're just feeling overwhelmed because of everything that's been happening' she thought to herself as she continued to finish off her work 'That has to be it'

* * *

Ichigo lied down on the bed his back facing up with his head turned to the side; thinking about their situation right now. Not long after Ichigo found out about her someone else just shows up and starts claiming to know everything about them and wants to recruit them.

Ichigo thought back to all of those times when he had seen that mask; he didn't let him bother him before but now he thinks that this is really turning into a problem; Shinji wasn't wrong when he said that Ichigo would lose control there were many times when that happened and there were times when the mask would show up on its own.

"I can hear him" Ichigo muttered to himself "Ever since this battle with Byakuya the mask kept coming back no matter how many times I threw it away" he thought to himself 'Ever since then I've been able to hear him" Ichigo said "It's inside my head calling to me; if this keeps up-

"If his keeps up what?" A familiar menacing voice asked Ichigo shot up "Are you trying to scare yourself Ichigo; you're so easy to figure out when I'm don't with you'll be even more scared; I'm going to get close and closer to you and not just day by day oh no it's going to happen much faster than that" Ichigo looked up and saw the hollows face; just like him but white skin; yellow eyes and a maniac look.

"See; I'm even closer and closer to you than I was a moment ago" he said "And I'm going to keep getting closer and closer to you until I swallow you up" Ichigo gripped the sheets with his hands

There was a sudden burst of sprit energy and the whole house shook slightly from it; it woke him out of his frightened daze. It wasn't just them everyone else with spiritual pressure felt it as well and it was frightening.

* * *

Somewhere in the forest near Karakura there stood two figures dressed in white; there was one large guy with a piece of a hollow mask on his chin till his cheeks and another one about human size; he had short black hair with a mask on half the side of his head buck didn't cover his face; he had green eyes with green streaks running down his face.

"I've been here a few times when I was masked I see the world of the living hasn't changed still boring as ever the spiritual pressures so thin I can barely breath" he said

"Stop complaining Yami; I told you I can handle this on my own" said the figure with the green eyes

"Yeah; Yeah I'll give it a rest" he said walking out of the crater that had been made in the ground.

There were a few people staring to gather around them "What's with you people you better stop staring or I'll suck out your souls" Yami pursed his lips and the people souls were literally sucked out

"Those people weren't looking at you" the other one said after Yami finished sucking up all the souls "In fact they couldn't see you at all"

"I know but they were pissing me off so how many people in the world of the living are we supposed to kill hey Ulquiorra?"

"Only one" he said "There is no need to kill anybody else"  
"This place is overflowing with humans and you only want to kill one?"

"That's correct" Ulquiorra said calmly "I've been told that there are only three people here who have enough spirit energy to put up a fight against us the rest are just trash"

Then there was a noise and he saw someone still alive "There seems to be a survivor" he told Yami

"Yeah you're right" he went over to her "Hey is she one?"

"You idiot; can't you tell just standing there your spirit is crushing her soul"

"So she just got luck; well her lucks run out" he said about to kick Tatsuki but at the last moment Chad appeared and blocked him with his armoured arm (Look if you hadn't watched bleach then look it up because it's a lot of effort to explain it all to everyone)

Orihime and Chad stood in front of Tatsuki "Who the hell are you guys?" asked Yami

He took his foot away from Chads' armoured arm; he held onto his arm and looked at the girls "Orihime get Tatsuki and get out of here"

"Ok" she said taking Tatsuki and trying to get her away

"Is this one of them?" Yami shouted over to Ulquiorra

"Oh Yami you really need to work harder in your investigating power so you can determine these things on your own you should be able to tell he isn't"

Chad got ready and attacked summoning his energy into his arm and firing it at his opponent; Orihime saw how Chad was knocked to the ground unconscious and bleeding

"Chad; get up" Orihime shouted gently putting Tatsuki on the ground and running; she sat beside Chad and saw his wound.

Yami was about to attack her as well but she muttered "Santen Keshun" and a shield appeared stopping him before breaking though

Orihime stood up and muttered again staring at the monster before her "Santen Kishun" and her flower petals from her clips glowed and went over to Chad's arm and the damage started to repair itself

"What is this girl?" Yami asked "How are you able to heal that guy? How can he still be alive?"

Ulquiorra looked and knew that it wasn't the power to heal "You're a strange human aren't you"

Orihime said her chant again to attack Yami but as it came charging towards him he knocked it away and she stared in horror as her attack petal was crushed.

Yami was about to attack her again but then as Yami reached out for her he was stopped by a sword; Ichigo stood in front of Orihime.

"Just who the hell are you?" Yami asked them

"Ichigo" Orihime gasped in surprise and relief

"I'm sorry" Orihime said

"It's alright" Ichigo replied "I'll take care of it"

"I'll end this" Ichigo said and placed his on his wrist that was holding his sword and said "Bankai" there was a huge burst of spirit energy; he was now in his Bankai state his sword was thinner and his clothes were different as well.

"Ulquiorra is this guy?" Yami asked

"Yes" Ulquiorra said "The orange hair; the black Bankai; this is our target"

Yami smirked "Well he saved us the trouble of searching for him; he saw about to punch Ichigo but he just held up his sword and blocked him.

Ichigo looked up at him "I'm guessing you're the reason Chad's lying on the ground over there?

Ichigo jumped up and over Yami then there was the sight of a giant arm falling off; Ulquiorra just watched thinking about what an idiot he was for charging in like that. He was surprised though that Ichigo had managed to cut off his arm. He watched as they fought but even at this level of power Ichigo had he couldn't pose a threat to Aizen so it made him wonder for what reason they were sent to kill him.

"Would you like me to take over?" Ulquiorra asked

"Shut up" he shouted taking out his sword

"You need your zampakuto to deal with a runt like this?" Ulquiorra asked not losing his monotone

"I said shut up" Yami yelled "I'm going to kill this guy"

Ichigo was shocked when he heard and wondered what these guys were suddenly he felt his hollow start to come out.

'Come on switch with me' his hollow said 'I'll take care of this guy'

Suddenly Ichigo was knocked back by Yami making Orihime shout after him; he wasn't able to move because his hollow wasn't allowing him to.

"Stay where you are!" he told Orihime who was running over to him; she was about to use her shield when Yami raised his hand and smacked her away but suddenly Sakura appeared flash stepped and pulled Orihime back before she hit the ground.

Sakura turned back and saw Ichigo taking a real beating. Sakura saw Yami grabbed onto his head and threw him to the ground.

'What's the matter with him?' she thought as she watched him fight or trying to fight.

After work Sakura had literally felt the earth shake at the sudden release of strong spiritual pressure and when she had arrived to where she felt it was coming from she found Ichigo already there; beating her to it again and taking a beating. She had managed to grab Orihime before she hit the ground after taking the hit from that thing.

Sakura could feel Ichigo's spiritual pressure spiking and then fluctuating but she couldn't understand how that was happening; she could just add that to the list of things she didn't understand about this along with the those things standing in front of her; they looked almost human nothing like the monsters that she's been fighting or hollows as she recalled Hiyori referring to them as that.

Yami stopped his assault on Ichigo and looked over to Sakura; there was a massive concentration of spirit energy.

Ulquiorra stared at her; he didn't think that this girl was very strong when he first saw her but now her power was growing. A blue light started to surround Sakura and it looked like it was taking form of something behind her and her power kept growing. Sakura looked at Yami raising her arms that blue light came forth and she blasted it and him sending him flying back.

Sakura put her hands on her side and looked at Yami who now had a gaping hole on the side of him.

"Most interesting" Ulquiorra said; Sakura raised her arms up and there was a strange light coming from Yami again; the spirits that was in him seemed to be returning back to the humans lying around the area. Looking up there was a large crystal shape in the sky that was a light blue; it was like Orihime's power but stronger. All the humans were regaining their souls.

"What's happening?" Yami gasped

"Taiyo no Kisu (Sun kiss)" Sakura said "It's a special shield that can be used for both offense and defence it's used to erase events within its space and right now you're within its domain; that's what I shot at you as well" Sakura said keeping her hands up. Eventually after all the humans regained their souls she started to calm down. Yami started to stand up; with only half his body intact; she had taken out half of the upper part of his body aside from his head.

Sakura glared at him dangerously watching as he got up from the ground still bleeding. Sakura cursed; she put almost everything she had into that attack yet he was still standing while her vision was getting blurry.

"That's it" he said and opened his mouth a red beam began to form in his mouth; he aimed it at Ichigo; Sakura gasped as he shot it at him; Sakura quickly flash stepped and took the hit getting blasted.

"That's what you get you little runt" he said glaring at the blast but he saw a figure in the dust still standing. Her clothes were a little torn now and her skin was burned; Sakura turned back to Ichigo and was about to heal him when Yami stomped over to her however Sakura could feel his overwhelming power. She coughed up blood and wiped her mouth as she tried to keep her footing.

"What the hell; what are you?" Yami asked angrily "Is she one of them Ulquiorra?"

"No; I have never heard about this one" he told Yami

"Oh Please either way she's going to die" Yami shouted aiming another Cero attack and getting out his sword; Sakura stared at him eyes wide as he came down towards her. Just then something knocked him back.

Sakura looked up and saw two people in front of her; one was a lady with long purple hair in a ponytail with yellow eyes and dark skin another was a man with a green had covering his white-blonde hair.

Yami stared in disbelief "Great more pests" he glared "Well all I want to do is deal with that one so get out of the way"

Ulquiorra appeared in front of Yami finally making a move and knocked him back "What did you do that for?" he asked

"Idiot; if you had paid closer attention you would know; that's Yoroichi Shihouhine and Kisuke Urahara; you wouldn't last five minutes against the two of them"

He said walking off suddenly there was a breaking in front of him and a dark space appeared; Ichigo started waking up and looked around.

"Are you running away?" Yoroichi asked

Ulquiorra turned and smirked slightly "Why are you trying to tempt me into a fight; you know very well what will happen if you try to fight me while protecting those pieces of trash" he stated "We have completed our mission here. It's time to deliver our report; I'll tell him the soul reaper he's so interested in has no value what's so ever; he's not even worth killing however you on the other hand may want to execute more caution from now on I'm sure lord Aizen would find use in you" he said before vanishing into the black abyss behind him

Ichigo clenched his fists angrily; his body was still in pain but he couldn't help but think about what he heard. Sakura wiped the corner of her mouth from the blood and limped over to Ichigo falling to her knees beside him.

"Sakura are you alright?" Ichigo asked her

She grunted in response; she gently touched his arm sending a few sparks through his arm; a light shield began to form like the one before and then his arm started healing.

"Hey the pains melting away" Ichigo said blushing slightly

After healing his arm Sakura collapsed "Sakura" she heard Ichigo call for her

"Ichigo" Yoroichi started "Who is that?" she looked at the girl in his arms; Kisuke looked at Sakura and his eyes went wide.

'Impossible' he thought


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello everyone; here we have chapter seven; now I've been thinking that I've delayed this long enough and I believe it's time for something interesting to happen between the two main characters of this story. Take head though their relationship isn't something that's going to happen in a flash but there will be interesting moments between them starting as of now. **

**Read and Enjoy**

* * *

Ichigo lied in bed; his body bandaged with Kon lying on top of his chest looking really mad; while he just looked in a daze listening to the heavy rain on the roof; it was still school but with everyone's injuries let's just say that neither Ichigo nor Chad; Orihime or Sakura would be attending any time soon. School had ended a little while ago considering it was already five thirty in the afternoon.

Kon jumped up and started shouting about being bored "What are you doing moping around; on a day like this we should be picking up chicks; I'm out of here Ichigo" Kon said slamming through the window that had to hurt. There was a shatter and then a groan of pain though Ichigo was too much in a dazed state to take notice of it or the fact that his window was now shattered.

Ichigo flinched as he thought about the fight and how his hollow had stopped his body from moving while he took a serious beating "If it keeps on like this…dammit' he turned around and his fist in to the pillow.

After the fight Kisuke and Yoroichi took all of them to Urahara's shop to patch them up; Chad and Orihime had woken up not long after but Sakura had still been unconscious. Kisuke had explained that Sakura had used up a lot of her spirit energy fighting.

He told Kisuke that he wanted to wait until she woke up to talk to her it's not like she was going to be able to go anywhere in her condition but Kisuke had just said that he should go home and rest while he tried to sort a few things out with Sakura first before Ichigo spoke to her but Ichigo warned him that it wasn't going to be that easy because she didn't know anything about soul reapers or the soul society even after he said this though Kisuke had said he would handle it. He just hoped that he would be able to speak to her soon and this time he wasn't going to back off.

Now it's been a day since the fight and Sakura still hasn't woken up; he was getting worried and now that he was able to walk straight he was going to go and check on her. Ichigo heard his cell phone ring; he picked it up.

"Hello?" Ichigo called "Kisuke what's up?"

After a few moment of listening Ichigo's eyes widened "She's what?"

* * *

"Achoo" Sakura sneezed softly; she wiped her nose with her bandaged covered hand; she was wrapped up around her head and arms and there were bandages around her stomach to; basically almost her entire upper body was covered in bandages from the burn marks aside from her face because when she had block the blast with her body she had been sure to cover her face; her thighs and legs had also been slightly singed.

After Sakura had woken up she had no idea where she was; she had gotten up and started limping around and saw that she was in a shop; she found two rooms where Orihime and Chad were being tended to and lying; they looked safe so after that Sakura decided to take her leave. She had figured that the people who helped them must be Yoroichi and Kisuke having remembered Ulquiorra saying their names after the battle.

She didn't see Ichigo there so she could have only assumed he went home and that's what she was doing right now. Sakura walked through the empty streets as the rain poured; she was already pretty soaked through her school uniform as she struggled to find any dry place right now; all she wanted to do right now was head on home; get out of these wet clothes; take a nice warm bath; eat and then attempt to forget yesterday's event's.

* * *

After a while she finally reached her apartment; Sakura unlocked the door and when it dripping from head to toe. She had rushed to the bathroom to avoid getting the floors too wet and then made a mental note to dry them when she was finished. She started running her bath. She took off her wet jersey and saw she had soaked straight through it and her white school shirt.

"Damn" she sighed wincing slightly; it was still hurting a little to move around after getting hit with that blast; she was starting to question herself on why she had done that? To top it off she had gone and used her Taiyo no Kisu twice in one day just to help those people and Ichigo. Look where that got her; completely drained.

"Stupid Ichigo" she muttered under her breath undoing her tie and wringing it out; after managing to remove all of her clothes she got into the bath with her bandages still on. She figured she could replace them later on. She sighed and smiled slightly as the water warmed her freezing form.

"That's better" she said almost tiredly; she closed her eyes and leaned back against the tub she started to frown slightly "I hope that idiots alright" she said to herself; she couldn't help it; she was worried about him. She couldn't help but let a small smile grace her lips as she thought about the orange haired soul reaper.

* * *

After soaking in long enough Sakura got out; she wrapped a towel around her form and came out into the hall way; she stopped heading to her room when she heard something that sounded like footsteps; wet footsteps; she cautiously walked against the side of the hall; she saw a shadow growing bigger.

'One; two; three' she jumped out of with her fist raised but stopped when she saw orange; Sakura stopped in her tracks but still bumped into a surprised Ichigo causing both of them to fall to the ground with Sakura landing right on top of Ichigo. The two groaned in pain; Sakura rubbed her sore forehead and nose.

Ichigo moaned in pain; he had heard from Kisuke that Sakura had gone missing so he said he was going to go and check if she was at her apartment. When he got there she didn't reply when he knocked and when he tried the door knob and it opened. So he decided to let himself in and the next thing he knew he was knocked to the ground by something.

"Man this hurts" Ichigo grumbled as he opened his eyes and his vision started to focus; he felt a huge blush creep into his face he saw Sakura rubbing her bandaged cover forehead; her hair dripping wet and her body clad in a small white towel.

"Ouch" Sakura said "Man that was stupid" she looked down and saw Ichigo lying underneath her as she sat on his hard chest and then she realise she was in nothing but a towel.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The two voices could be heard thought out the entire third floor in every room.

Sakura jumped off of Ichigo; her face red with embarrassment "Ichigo; what the hell; you pervert!" she shouted at him uncharacteristically "You stupid; perverted freak! What are you doing breaking into my apartment?" she shouted at him her face flushed red

"I-I w-wasn't; I mean….WAIT A MINUTE YOU'RE THE ONE THAT JUMPED ME IN NOTHING BUT A TOWEL" he pointed out at her

"SHUT UP; I THOUGHT YOU WERE A BURGERLER!" she defended herself quickly still blushing; she felt like her heart jumped out of her throat.

The two of them were panting heavily after shouting at each other the way they were. Sakura took a step back and a deep breath trying to calm her speeding heart rate and flushed face.

"Alright; what are you doing here?" she asked him but Ichigo was still a little too distracted to reply.

"Would you please put some clothes on?!" he said turning around

Sakura blushed harder and ran into her room quickly; she changed into a shorts and wool white top; she quickly threw a towel on top of her head and started to dry her hair; walking up to him with two towels in her arms; she walked over to Ichigo and threw one at him.

"There you go; you're soaking my floor" she stated; she walked over to the couch and placed another towel down "Have a seat"

Ichigo sat down "Thanks and by the way the floor was soaked when I came in" he said settling down as he dried off; he was shaking slightly

"Hold on I'll be right back" Sakura said in her usual tone; she went to the kitchen and Ichigo heard the kettle going off.

A few minutes later she came back with two steaming cups in her hands; she handed on to Ichigo

"Careful it's hot" she said as he took it

"Thanks" Ichigo said keeping the towel in top of his head

Sakura sat down beside him "Are you feeling alright?" she asked him

Ichigo nodded noticing she was acting a little out of her usual demeanour today "I'm fine. You're in trouble by the way; you ran off without telling anyone"

Sakura nodded as she took a sip from her drink "Why?"

"What?"

"Why am I in trouble; it wasn't like I knew those people and I didn't ask them to help me" she stated narrowing her eyes at her drink.

"Hey if they didn't you'd be dead" Ichigo pointed out frowning at her

"Over exaggeration" she said icily; she suddenly had a fit of coughs

"You ok?" Ichigo asked with slight panic in his voice

Sakura finally stopped her throat felt slightly rough "I'm fine; I'm probably just getting a cold from being out in this whether" she took another sip of her drink

"If you didn't run away you wouldn't have had this problem and neither would I" Ichigo grumbled under his breath

The two were silent for a few moments again; just listening to the rain fall until Ichigo decided to cut through it "Other than that" Ichigo started "You should've stayed so that they could take care of you"

"I'll be fine by myself" Sakura replied in her usual monotone

"Oh yeah; how do you figure; you already look pretty flushed" Ichigo said seeing her cheeks a little beet red

"I can take care of myself" she said almost stubbornly "I've been doing it this long"

Ichigo looked at her and was silent for a little "Well; you still caused a panic so don't go doing things like that; I literally rushed out of bed threw on my clothes and came running in this killer whether" he said gesturing to the window where they could see the hard pour.

Sakura was silent and then looked at him; Ichigo saw something flash in her eyes; an emotion that he couldn't place before replying "Well I didn't ask you to come either"

"I came because I was worried about you" Ichigo stated before even realising what he had said; he tried to play it cool after it sunk in what he had just uttered to her.

"Thank you" she muttered looking down

Ichigo cocked an eye brow in confusion "Uh…"

This time Sakura frowned but she didn't look up to meet Ichigo's gaze "I'm sorry for running off and worrying you and thanks for coming to check if I was alright even though it wasn't necessary"

"You're welcome" he replied with a hint of surprise in his voice ignoring the hostility in the last part of her sentence; he wasn't expecting that to come out of her mouth. Another pervert dis might have been expected rather.

"And I'm sorry for tackling you" she added and felt her blush deepen a little and Ichigo felt his face heat a little more to.

"T-That's fine; it was an accident" he said clearing his throat; his face then turned serious "Sakura; we need to talk"

"About what?" she asked

"About everything" Ichigo said

"Then you better get comfortable because 'everything's a big topic" she said pursing her lips and blowing the steam from her cup

Ichigo frowned "Don't get smart with me and ruin the moment; I meant everything as in everything about being a soul reaper; your powers and how it's possible you don't know any of this. Let me help you and explain it to you"

Sakura frowned "I told you already I don't want any involvement with whatever it is you want to tell me about because the moment you do; I'm officially involved"

Ichigo scoffed "You're already involved" Sakura's eyes widened slightly "The moment you had these powers; the moment you became a soul reaper you were involved; the moment you fought against those guys to help us"

She clicked her tongued "Maybe I should've just let him kill you"

"Hey" Ichigo shot at her

She looked at him with a glare "Yeah what?"

Ichigo's face softened as he looked at Sakura's face; her hard expression was still in place but her eyes were soft "Why do you act like this?" he asked her

She stared at him for a few moments and then her eyes darted to the floor "I don't know what you mean; I always act this way; you've seen it"

"Yeah; you can say that but the look in your eyes says otherwise" he pointed out

She scoffed softly "My eyes don't say anything; they're for seeing"

"Smartass" Ichigo muttered under his breath; he rubbed the back of his head "Come on; I'm just trying to help you-

"I don't need your help" she replied in a calm tone but her voice cracked a little and Ichigo thought he saw her lip quiver "You want to know why I push everyone away; why I act so cold towards them. It's the character I've developed because it makes it easier when you've been alone almost your whole life" she clutched her cup with both hands "I've been like this for as long as I could remember; I've always had the ability to see the spirits and just that alone had made for a very difficult childhood especially when everyone thought you were a freak for talking to something no one else could see" she clenched her jaw

"It wasn't long after that my powers grew and these monsters or hollows started coming after me; I left my old home after Kyo died to start a new one in Karakura but I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't get close to any one because of the risk of exposing my powers or putting them in danger" she told him

"Sakura" Ichigo started sounding a bit unsure about whether or not he should ask her this question "Did Kyo; die from…" Ichigo swallowed "Did a hollow-

"He died from a hollow ok?" she said quickly her shoulders were shaking now "We were walking home together after he took me out and he got killed by one of those monsters. I wasn't able to fight back because I had left my necklace at home that transformed me" she felt chocked and felt tears pool in her eyes "I wasn't able to do anything to help him and he wouldn't listen when I told him to run because all he wanted to do was protect me and ended up dying because I got careless and dropped my guard" she felt tears running down her face; she didn't dare look up at Ichigo "I wasn't able to save him; on that day I promised I wouldn't ever attach myself to anyone ever again and put them in danger like I had Kyo; god I knew that those things were drawn to me for some reason" she stopped as tears silently fell down her face

"I can't allow myself the luxury of friends and even after I told myself that I got…..close to you and now look at you; I'm sorry-

"What happened to me wasn't your fault!" Ichigo shot back at her quickly standing up "I get myself into these kinds of situations all the time" he walked up to Sakura quickly and grabbed her shoulders "I understand how you feel; I know that feeling of thinking you can't protect anyone" Ichigo wavered "I'm the one who should be apologising" he started; Sakura wiped her face and looked at Ichigo as he crouched down "I know how what it feels like when you've failed to protect someone important to you. I've been through it many times before just like yesterday. Sakura; yesterday you were the one who protected everyone. I know that it's hard to let go of the past but you shouldn't let it stop you from living in the present. Someone taught me that and thanks to this person I've changed for the better that's all you need"

Sakura stared at him; her face flushed as she looked into his eyes; she could see that same look of loneliness in his eyes that she's had for almost her entire life that was until she was adopted but that ended not long after when Kyo died and then her eyes were filled with nothing but hurt and guilt.

She had decided to stay away from people so she wouldn't have to feel any of this again but looking at Ichigo she realise that he's had it harder than her. He had people he wanted to protect and that placed a harder burden on him than she would ever be able to understand because when she had that burden on herself she had taken the power she had to protect for granted one time and that cost her the most and only important person in her life.

'Maybe Kyo doesn't have to be the only one' she thought looking at Ichigo's stern face

"Thank you; Ichigo" she murmured

Ichigo stared at her in confusion now "Huh; for what?"

He noticed Sakura gently staring at her and his eyes widened slightly in surprise as he saw the gentle look on her face that was a look he's never seen on her face before. Her eyes seemed to hold nothing but softness instead of plain windows to an empty soul and her hard face features had become somehow more timid; she looked more like a helpless girl.

"For everything you've done for me" she said clutching the ends of her top

She smiled; a genuine smile and he had to admit she looked beautiful when she smiled "If you don't mind would you tell me….everything about being a soul reaper?"

He stopped for a moment still taking in that look on her face; that look he was wishing would appear on her face more often.

'Wait what am I thinking?' he saw her still looking at him and couldn't stop the smile that came to his face "Sure" he said swallowing his mouth that sudden went dry "You see soul reapers are…..

Ichigo explained to Sakura about hollows and how they were creatures that were once human; he told her that it was the jobs of soul reapers to fight them and explained to her how he had become a substitute soul reaper; he also told her about the soul society where pure blood soul reapers go to train and work. He told her about Rukia who gave him his powers and about the enemies he faced with all of his friends; he also explained to her that they had powers of their own and also knew that Ichigo was a soul reaper; he told her about Zampakutos and how they had two states and forms one being Shikai and the other Bankai; he explained that soul reapers could also use Kidou but added he had no clue how to use it; he told her about how he had gotten his substitute soul reaper pass after he saved Rukia from being executed with his friends when they first went to the soul society.

As Ichigo explained all of this Sakura had a lot of questions coming up from her end about this and he answered those best he could for her. In return for Ichigo telling her his stories and giving his explanations for her; she told him about how she had first become a soul reaper; nothing the way he had become one. She told him that she just started to have dreams and then one morning she wakes up with the pass around her neck and her powers there. She told him she didn't know how she got it but it was an accident the first time she transformed. They talked for hours together; they hadn't even noticed how late it was getting and since both of them were willing to talk for hours that's what they ended up doing it was ironic that this was happening between two people who usually didn't have a lot to say at all at least not to each other.

After they finished talking to each other it was only then that they realised how late it had gotten; they have been talking to each other for hours and it was already dark outside; still pouring.

"Ah geez my dad's gonna kill me" Ichigo said looking at the clock "I can't believe it's this late"

Sakura nodded "Yeah" she stood up "It's still raining though….maybe you should stay the night"

Ichigo froze in his tracks of "Say what?" he asked her seeing if he actually heard that right

She looked back at him as she took the towel off of her head "I said you can stay the night" she said back to her monotone but her face wasn't as hard when she said it "It's pouring out side still; it's late and you're injured" she said

Ichigo smirked "Oh so now you're worried about me?"

Sakura frowned at his smug tone "Hey; I'm trying to be nice here but you're making it difficult with that smug look on your face. I'm thinking about your health; I couldn't care less though if you decided to go and die of hypothermia" she crossed her arms

Ichigo chuckled at her expression "Well what do you know; she does have a heart" Sakura glared at him in response but her cheeks were slightly red; the cold must be getting to her; did that make sense?

Sakura rolled her eyes at him "You can use the guest room; its right next to mine and the bathrooms at the opposite side of the hall. You can go take a bath if you want and as for clothes…..well since Kyo used to live here I can probably find something for you to wear"

Ichigo stopped her "Wait I thought you had just moved here so how come his clothes…."

"Kyo had apartments like this so that he always had a place to go to when he came to certain areas for business trips" Sakura explained "And when he died it was stated in his will that this one was to be handed over to me"

Ichigo nodded in understanding "Wow"

"Um" an awkward silence filled the air between them again "You can go ahead and take a bath; I'm going to make something to eat" she said

"You can cook?" Ichigo asked

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him "Why do you look so surprised?"

Ichigo shook his head quickly and started walking down the hall way "No reason"

'Please don't let me die tonight' Ichigo thought to himself

* * *

After Ichigo had taken a bath and Sakura found him some clothes to wear; she had readied dinner and had prepared the guest room for Ichigo. After they ate later on which was actually really good much to Ichigo's surprise the two of them decided to just head on straight to bed; for one it's been a long day; going from battle injuries to runaways to embarrassing situations to emotional talks all of this was enough to tire anyone out.

Ichigo looked around the guest room; it was a nice room very spacious and sort of empty; there was just a normal single bed; a nightstand beside it with a lamp and then at the end of the room there was a window and a small dresser in the corner. Sakura had given Ichigo a plan white shirt and blue baggy pants of Kyo. Sakura leaned against the door frame

"Your clothes will be dry by tomorrow" Sakura said

Ichigo nodded "Alright; thanks a lot"

She nodded "Night Ichigo" she said walking off

"Good night" Ichigo responded watching her walk into her room and switch off her light; he got into the bed as he did Ichigo noted how cold the bed was; he guessed that this room wasn't used a lot. He stared up at the white ceiling. Sakura sure had surprised him today; there really was more to her than a stuck up girl with an attitude; now he knew that was just an act that she had become so good at it obscured her true self from everyone that they believed it was the real her; she had been putting on that act for so long it may have even become part of the real her a little bit but it wasn't the complete her. He saw that today; she did this to protect all of those around her; that's what she thought she was doing but what she failed to realise that in this town there would always be danger and having friends or not wouldn't change that. She had to understand that and start trying to open up to everyone else as well.

As Ichigo closed his eyes images of Sakura today passed through his head; Sakura smiling up at him; crying; giving him that adorable look and then clad in a towel. His eyes snapped open.

'What's wrong with me?!' he thought shaking his head and burying himself further into the covers.

'God I'm going crazy!' he thought to himself

**There you have it; hope everyone enjoyed this chapter please don't forget to review. **


	8. Chapter 8

**I want to say thanks for the reviews; I'm giving you a heads up that Ichigo and Sakura are going to start to get closer now more and more each chapter. I hope you enjoy; looking at all of the episodes of the arancar. **

**I hope you enjoy**

* * *

Ichigo started to open his eyes he looked up at the ceiling and stretched out his arms but winced in slight pain when he realised he was still wrapped in bandages. He looked around the room wondering where the heck he was and then he remembered he spent the night at Sakura's place. He heard a knock at the door.

"Come in" he said

He saw Sakura looking ready for the day despite her injuries although it wasn't like either of them were going anywhere soon at least not where they would be seen.

"Morning" Sakura greeted; seems her emotional faze had ended and she was back to her stoic mode "How'd you sleep?"

"Alright" Ichigo said rubbing the back of his head "What time is it?"

"Ten thirty" she replied sighing heavily "I just came to see if you were up; I made breakfast already"

Ichigo nodded and rubbed his tired eyes "Thanks for letting me stay the night"

Sakura nodded "Sure no problem" she said leaving the room

Standing up; Ichigo got to the bathroom and turned on the shower; getting in he let the warm water soak over his form; he began thinking about Sakura; and what had happened.

Ichigo noted she was back in that usual monotone but didn't say anything about it. It seems she was nicer than she was leading everyone on to be; he saw that and now that he knew the truth he was going to help her no matter how much she's probably going to reject it at first. He saw a piece of Sakura yesterday he didn't even know existed and now that he saw it he was determined to do whatever it took to show her that she didn't have to be alone just because she's a little different from the others. It actually looked like he was breaking down her defences though he still had a long way to go. He didn't know why he was so determined to help her but there was just something screaming inside of him to do it; he understood what it felt like when he first became a soul reaper; he thought a lot like she did but he had never considered being on his own or stopping himself from having a normal life just because of it; he actually envied a normal life but at the same time he enjoyed having the power to protect people.

* * *

Ichigo came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist; he started heading back towards the room. As he got to the door and pushed it further open he saw Sakura standing there with his clothes in her arms. She looked at him in nothing but a towel.

"Here's your clothes" she said sounding like she wasn't bothered seeing him half naked; she placed it on the bed

"Uh; thanks" Ichigo replied

Sakura nodded and started to leave out of the door. Well there wasn't much of a reaction there at least she didn't yell at him but staying so nonchalant like that was a bit strange and Ichigo wondered why he was disturbed that she didn't react instead of being relieved about it. It was almost as if he wanted to see a reaction.

Ichigo shook his head as he slid on his top 'No way' he told himself; he hoped she wasn't going to mention it when he came out.

* * *

Sakura walked out of the room and closed the door behind her and made her way to the kitchen to eat; she put a hand on her thumping heart.

'That was so embarrassing!' she thought; her face turning red; she couldn't believe she just saw him like that! They barely know each other and she just saw him half naked; god she hoped he didn't see her staring at his chest; his muscular; bandage covered-

"What the heck am I thinking!?" she thought to herself in alarm grabbing her head with her hands; she hoped he wouldn't bring it up.

* * *

As Ichigo made his way to the kitchen he saw Sakura already sitting there cleaning her dishes. He sat down by the counter and started eating the omelette Sakura made him.

"Hey this is good" Ichigo said taking another bite

"Thanks" Sakura replied packing away her dishes "I don't usually cook for other people"

Ichigo nodded and continued eating; when Sakura was finished she sat down opposite him; she waited until Ichigo finished before reaching out for the plate and cup

"I got it" Ichigo said reaching out for it; their hands touched and both felt a small spark before pulling away; Ichigo didn't say anything but just took the dishes and placed them in the sink.

"How are you feeling today?" Ichigo asked her

"I'm fine" Sakura replied "What about you?"

He nodded "I feel fine; I'm going to see how Orihime and Chad are doing later"

"Mm; ok" Sakura said "You can tell Urahara that I'm fine and tell him I say thanks for helping me"

Ichigo frowned a little "Wouldn't you rather go there yourself and apologise and thank him after all I'm not your messenger boy"

Sakura sighed "Fine then don't tell him"

Ichigo shook his head; he finished washing up his dishes and put them away "So Sakura what are you going to do today?"

She shrugged "I'm just gonna stay at home and try and heal up a bit more you know before I go back to school; I'd like to at least have the bandages on my legs gone before I put on a skirt"

"You sure you want to stay alone?" Ichigo asked her "Wouldn't it be better if you stayed at Urahara's shop?"

She shook her head "No; I don't think so; I'm still letting this situation sink in and I think some time on my own would be a good thing"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes little distraught but nodded; he heard footsteps and then a small hand being placed on his shoulder; he looked up at Sakura surprised

"Don't worry; it's just that I need time to think this through. You told me so much about things I didn't know or understand and for that I'm really grateful to you Ichigo"

Ichigo felt his face flush a little red when she said that; he rubbed the back of his head and averted his eyes "There's no need for you to keep thanking me" he said

"Sorry" Sakura said taking her hand off his shoulder

"Or apologising" he replied to her; Ichigo looked out at the window and saw the view it looked like there wasn't going to be any rain today.

"I should get home" he said heading towards the door with Sakura trailing behind him to lock up

Ichigo opened the door and walked up; he turned back to Sakura "Are you sure you'll be alright on your own?"

Sakura nodded and went back to her usual tone "Don't worry about me; like I said before I can take care of myself. See you at school"

Ichigo nodded "Sure see you later" he watched and waited until the door was closed before walking away.

* * *

Sakura leaned against the door frame gripping her right arm with her left hand under her chest "Ichigo Kurosaki" she murmured unable to help the small jump her heart made.

* * *

"No!" a shout erupted from class room 1-3

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Chizuru yelled looking at Orihime dressed in bandages "Tell me right now" she demanded pointing her index finger at Orihime.

Orihime rubbed the back of her head with the hand that wasn't injured "I fell down the stairs"

"You expect me to believe you got those injuries falling down stairs?!" she shouted; her hands shaking

"You've been absent for five days now and just look at you; you're a mess; why do you always make me worry so much?"

"You're not gonna get all mushy and hug me are you?" Orihime asked getting a little worried

"No way just look at you how could I?" Chizuru replied

"Orihime" Ichigo's voice cut through the air

Turning around she saw Ichigo also dressed up in bandages "Oh what is it Ichigo?" she asked with a smile

He stared at her for a while and was about to say something before looking down "Don't worry about it; it's not important"

"What's up with Ichigo?" Chizuru asked

"Sorry Chizuru; I have to use the rest room" Orihime ran out of the class room Chizuru ran after her and later on Sakura came in bandaged up as well.

The gang had been out of school for five days and now that they were recovered a bit they were able to go to school despite still being a little banged up still. It's been a while now and since that sleep over at Sakura's home Ichigo and Sakura haven't come into contact with each other after that. While Ichigo had left Sakura to give her time to reflect on her situation he was able to do the same; he hadn't been himself for the past few days and his family and friends noticed; he wasn't more silent and almost appeared to be in a state of depression. Which he was; he was upset because all he could think about the moment he left Sakura's apartment was how he had almost lost his friends in that fight against that enemy.

Ichigo saw Sakura appear in the class room; her bandages seemed to have been taken off around her legs but her arms were still covered and her forehead. She had on her usual nonchalant; stoic expression on as she walked with her bag flung over her shoulder and her other hand in her skirts pocket. She walked up his desk and stood in front of it in that same stance.

"Morning Ichigo; you feeling better?" she asked him calmly

Ichigo stared at her "Yeah and you?" he asked

"Getting better" she told him honestly shrugging her shoulders

He looked down "I see"

Sakura stared at him; she felt that there was something off with him today "What's the matter?"

"Nothing" Ichigo said averting his eyes

* * *

Later on while Sakura and Ichigo were in the class room deciding they didn't want to go out because if enough people saw them rumours would spread about some kind of fight and that wouldn't end well. If they were smart they would've already connected the dots between them all.

"Ichigo" Sakura called looking at him as he wiped the black board "Are you alright?"

He turned around and looked at her "Yeah why do you ask?"

She shrugged her shoulders casually and looked down "Fine then; I guess if you don't want to tell me"

Ichigo's brow furrowed "What are you talking about; there's nothing to worry about I'm fine?"

"It's clear you're not alright but you deny that; it's fine I won't pry unlike you I actually have respect for people's personal space" she said calmly

Ichigo clenched his fist "Hey; I don't pry"

Sakura rolled her eyes at him "Oh yeah right" she said

"And I do have respect for people's personal space" he added

"Yeah you're may be right" Sakura nodded taking him off guard "Just not my personal space"

"W-What's that supposed to m-mean?" he asked

"Nothing" she said shaking her head; Ichigo growled slightly it was only a few seconds later he realised she was mimicking him

Ichigo felt a vain on his head throb as he glared at her "Why you; if you want personal space then how about you-

"Ichigo" Sakura cut him off "I didn't come here to start another useless argument with you" she said "I wanted to ask what's wrong with you?"

"Again Sakura; nothing; I'm fine" Ichigo snapped at her

"Clearly not" she stated bluntly "If that's how you want it then fine like I said before I don't pry like you"

Ichigo clenched his fist but quickly calmed down "Anyway have you decided?" he asked

She looked up at him "Huh?"

"Five days ago you said that you needed time to think about what you were going to do now that you knew more about being a soul reaper and the soul society"

Folding her arms over her chest; she looked at him with a straight face she looked at him taking him back slightly "Yeah I have"

"So what are you going to do?"

"Nothing" she said; Ichigo looked confused now

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked her

She shrugged her shoulders casually "I guess what I'm saying is; I'm not going to do anything about it; all that time I've had to think about it there wasn't really anything about this that has anything to do with me"

Ichigo nodded

"I don't honestly think I would want to get involved with the soul society" she said averting her eyes

"I understand" Ichigo replied; although he wasn't too sure about how the soul society might react if they found out about Sakura after all a substitute soul reaper with a combat pass could mean trouble if that soul reaper doesn't know how she got it. From what he remembers a soul reaper transferring their powers to a human is forbidden.

'I think I should tell her that' Ichigo thought to himself; that was something he didn't tell her about even though he mentioned his journey with his friends to the soul society to save Rukia he never told her why she was arrested in the first place and sentenced to death.

"I've also decided Ichigo that I'm going to help you" she said taking him by surprise again

"What do you mean I thought you said-?

"It's not technically the same thing with helping you and helping the soul society" she replied casually "That's what I've decided; I'm going to help you but at the same time I'm going to avoid getting involved with the soul society"

Ichigo nodded "Yeah that's probably for the best; but tell me something; how'd you come to the decision to help me?"

Sakura stayed silent for a few moments; she was staring at her feet now "I've decided to do this because…I owe you"

"Wah-

Ichigo was cut off again when the class room door started sliding open and revealing five familiar figures for Ichigo and five unfamiliar figures to Sakura.

Ichigo turned his head and looked and froze; he saw red hair; tattoos and dark eyes and knew that it was Renji; then he saw a bald head and knew it was Ikkaku; then he saw someone with dark violet hair cut in a bob and knew that it was Yumichika and he saw spikey silver hair and turquoise eyes it was Toshiro and the long dark orange-brown hair and big breasts were enough to tip him off that it was Rangiku.

"R-Renji; Toshiro W-Wait a minute" Ichigo stuttered still holding onto Sakura "What are you guys doing here?"

"That's captain Hitsugaya to you" Toshiro said frowning slightly at him

"Yeah but what are you all doing here?" he asked

Sakura saw Ichigo with his head turned looking at the class room door talking to the five 'students' she's never seen them here before and frankly she wondered if they were even students there was a strange feel about them she could see them but because her frame was hidden by Ichigo's who was in front of her they couldn't see her.

"Orders from above" Renji said "Looks like there's a major storm brewing with the arancars; we were sent here to join forces with the substitute soul reaper and prepare for the battle"

Ichigo looked confused "Arancars what's that?"

"What seriously; you mean you've been fighting these guys without having any idea of who they are?" Renji asked cocking an eyebrow

"They must be the ones who we fought five days ago" Sakura voice said making the five soul reapers look around

"What was that?" Rangiku asked looking around the class room which was empty; Ichigo twitched oh no if those guys found out about Sakura there's no telling what might happen.

"Uh nothing" Ichigo said sweat dripping; great just when Sakura said she wasn't going to get involved with anyone from the soul society these guys show up; perfect. Ichigo stupidly tried to hide Sakura's form with his body; taking a hand at the back of her head he crushed her face to his chest but she managed to move away from him in time.

"Can't breadth!" she said glaring at him "What the hell was that for?"

The five soul reapers peered from behind Ichigo and looked at Sakura who he still had in his arms.

"Who's this little cutie?" Rangiku asked

"What; is she your girlfriend Ichigo?" Ikkaku asked him "I didn't know you had it in ya"

Yumichika was surprised "Wow and she's gorgeous how did that happen?"

"Wait a minute she just heard everything we said" Ikkaku said "Why didn't you warn us Ichigo?"

"Um…" Ichigo trailed off wondering what he should say after Sakura made it clear she didn't want to get involved with the soul society and it would make things easier like that for her if he didn't tell the soul society anything about her.

"Oh I get it we interrupted something didn't we?" Rangiku asked slyly

Ichigo blushed "No you didn't and by the way she's-

"The new substitute soul reaper that appeared" Renji said calmly; Ichigo cursed it looked like the soul society already knew about her "Now I remember; they said that someone had gone up against the arancars and I guess this is her; I couldn't believe it till they showed me the footage of it"

"Oh really?" Rangiku said "But she just looks like a sweet; cute girl"

Sakura looked at them with a straight face "Hello I'm Sakura Haruno"

"Ok scratch the sweet part but she's still so cute!" Rangiku said moving in closer to her; Sakura raised an eyebrow at the busty women wondering if there was something wrong with her.

Ichigo yelled at her "Just explain to me what you're talking about"

"You dummy" another familiar voice sounded "His talking about those guys that beat you up the other day"

Ichigo turned around and stared in shock when he saw Rukia standing by the window in the school uniform.

"Rukia" he gasped

Suddenly Rukia jumped and kick Ichigo in his face making him let go of Sakura "Hey; what the hell was that for?" he asked; Renji held him back by his arms

"It's for your pathetic fight!" she said glaring at him; she was about to reach out for him when she heard a voice that was sounding bitter sweet right now

"Hey don't do that" Rukia looked to the side and saw Sakura standing with a worried expression on her face; her hands in front of her.

"You must be Sakura"

Nodding Sakura looked at her "Who are you?"

"I'm Rukia Kuchiki" Rukia replied walking up to her; Ichigo tensed watching as Rukia went over to Sakura.

Rukia was a little shorter than Sakura now so she was staring at her very closely; Rukia then turned around to glare at Ichigo who looked beyond confused now.

She smacked him "What was that for!?" he yelled

"For being an idiot again!" Rukia yelled back at him "You're causing trouble for the rest of us by keeping her a secret!"

"Well I thought it wasn't a big deal and besides it's not like I can contact the soul society with a phone call!" Ichigo shot back

Rukia scoffed and took out her glove taking him by his head and changing him into a soul reaper.

"Come on" Rukia called to Sakura as she started running to the window; Sakura followed unsurely about what was to come

* * *

Rukia had lead them to an area in town where a hollow has shown up; Sakura knew it was coming but Ichigo was more than surprised when Rukia threw him over the building and told him to go and fight it.

The two girls watched from above as Ichigo was about to fight the hollow; Sakura knew that there was a reason Rukia brought them here and for whatever reason that was Sakura knew she mustn't interfere.

The hollow slashed at Ichigo but Ichigo didn't seem to be doing anything; he didn't even seem to be fighting against it very much; he was knocked back.

"Ichigo" Sakura gasped slightly as she watched him fight; even that's been off for him lately it seemed

"What are you doing?" Rukia asked in an uncaring voice "Hurry up and kill it; you call that fighting just what are you waiting for?"

"Nothing" Ichigo said as the bandages around his head slipped off

"Then stand up and fight; you shouldn't have any problem at all defeating a hollow like this one" Rukia said crossing her arms over her chest

"I know" Ichigo said with a frown on his face

Sakura watched as Ichigo just dodged the hollows attacks; he had been off like this ever since the fight with those guys. Her eyes went wide as she felt a sudden spark of spirit energy. Like something wanted to come out of him.

"What's the matter with him?" Sakura asked as she watched Ichigo; she crossed her arms "He has more power than this"

Rukia nodded "Of course but he's afraid to use it" she said as carelessly as Sakura

Ichigo dodged the hollow again; he was blocking it now with his sword

"I think I know what happened" Rukia said so that he could hear her "You got beaten by the arancars now you can't function as a soul reaper. What are you so afraid of?" Ichigo moved out of the hollows way again "I know they hurt Orihime; Chad as well and Sakura; so what are you really so weak now that you would give up over something like that? Is it because you're afraid of losing or maybe because you won't be able to protect your friends or is it…..You're afraid of the hollow that you know is inside you!" Ichigo looked at them in shock; his eyes wide and his mouth slightly gaping.

"If you're afraid of losing then you just have to get stronger; if you're afraid you won't be able to protect your friends from harm you have to get stronger and make a vow that you'll never let them down but if you're afraid of the hollow inside of you then you must not only become strong enough to destroy it but pledge to yourself that you will!" the hollow started coming towards Ichigo again "Even if no one believes in you; stick out your chest and scream you defiance for that is the kind of man you are; I know it in my heart!"

Ichigo's sprit energy went high and attacked the hollow with one swift blow killing it.

Sakura stared at the scene; it looks like Rukia had found a way to get Ichigo out of his slump almost instantly. Sakura had heard the stories about Rukia; she knew that she was the one who gave him the powers of a soul reaper but she also realised that Rukia had a special bond with Ichigo. A kind of bond Sakura had and the kind she had allowed to get taken away from her.

* * *

Later on after Rukia had taken Ichigo to go apologise to Orihime; Rukia; Sakura and Ichigo had gone to his house for an explanation as to why she was here.

As they entered Ichigo's room the first thing they had to do was avoid Kon attacking the two girls Rukia kicked Kon and stomped on his as he tried to jump her.

"Same old Kon I see" she sighed

Ichigo shook his head "Rukia stop fooling around and just get in here already"

"Ok" Rukia sighed; she started looking around "Same tiny bedroom of yours I see"

"Quit it; it's now fair comparing to Byakuya's big old mansion"

"You're right I'm sorry" she said playfully

Sakura stared at them; she had to admit they seemed to have an odd relationship but were very close. "Oh my sweet Cherry blossom; you have the heart of an angel; sent from above-

Ichigo snapped and grabbed Kon "Don't even think about groping her or I'm gonna throw you out the window" he threatened

Sakura sighed and looked to Rukia who was already sitting on the bed "So Rukia can you tell us about these arancars?" she asked

"Do you know what they are and what they want?" Ichigo chimed in

Rukia smiled and nodded; Ichigo sat down on the floor leaning against his cupboard and Sakura stood up and leaned against the cupboard with her hands folded over her chest.

"So then tell us why we're being targeted" Ichigo said

"Just a second" another voice said and Ichigo started looking around

"I know that voice" Ichigo said looking back and forth "Renji are you there?"

"If you wanna know about the arancars hang on a second and we'll tell you all about it" the voice said again and they knew it was Renji

Sakura smacked the back of Ichigo's head and made him look up at the ceiling where he saw his light come out from the roof and four heads pop out; he saw Renji; Rangiku; Ikkaku and Yumichika came out

They all started coming out of the ceiling; Renji on the floor breaking the light bulb and the others on the bed.

"Hey Ichigo it's been a while or maybe not" Renji greeted waving his hand

Ichigo stared in disbelief and clenched his fists "You jerks what the hell did you forget how to use a damn door?" he seethed

"Now that's no way to greet old friends I'm hoping we'll have some fun here" Rangiku said not noticing Kon checking her out; he started leaping towards her but Rangiku punched him away with ease making the others just stare in awe.

"Has the toy lost its mind?" Renji asked

"No; he's always like that" Ichigo said angrily

Sakura interrupted them before this could go any further "Can someone start explaining what's going on? Who are you people?"

* * *

**Alright now I hope you enjoyed this chapter; I've already started working on the eighth so if I'm lucky I might be able to get it up within a few days. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Alright thanks for being so patient on my updates here's another chapter I hope you enjoy**

* * *

Not long after everyone settled down on Ichigo's bed aside from Ichigo and Sakura who were sitting together on the floor they listened as Renji began explaining and well Rukia showed her drawings in her sketch book.

"Arancars are essentially hollows but ones that have removed their masks and gained the powers of soul reapers; until recently they were few and imperfect but now that Aizen has begun manipulating them with the Hogioku mature fully developed arancars are being born" Rukia flipped the page of her sketch book again "Like the two you ran into the other day; are you with me so far?"

Sakura and Ichigo nodded

"But it probably would be clearer without the crappy drawings" Ichigo commented making Rukia throw the book at him in a fit.

Sakura didn't say anything about Rukia's drawings really not wanting to have the book thrown at her next. She just looked at the soul reapers nonchalantly; now would be the worst time for her to break her mask. These were soul reapers and even though she had just said she wasn't going to get involved with the soul society she was still going to help Ichigo even if it meant staying for this meeting.

"The soul society was willing to sit back and see if anything developed with the arancars but that was before Aizen got involved; we also had to deal with three of our captains having gone over to the enemies side on top of all the up roar with the bounts incident meanwhile the fully developed arancars were completed much faster than we expected" Renji said "And now that they've been sent back into this world we can't afford to sit back and wait any longer; they selected team to come here at once that's us"

"Who made the selections?" Ichigo asked

"The head captain" Renji replied "Central forty six has been vacant ever since Aizen killed all of the leaders so as of now ultimate decision making has been reverted to the head captain. Rukia was chosen because she was the one who knew you best"

"Not true" Rukia shot back glaring at him "I was chosen because of my abilities"

"There weren't many officers to choose from; I was closer to Rukia than most so they chose me" Renji explained Sakura looked back and forth between Rukia and Renji finding it hard to believe that they got along with each other

"After that I was told to choose outside the captains class who I most trusted to fight by my side so I chose Ikkaku to accompany me then Yumichika told me he wanted to come and when Rangiku heard about it she said it sounded interesting and she wanted in to" Sakura started looking between all of them as Renji explained "But then Yumichika said he wasn't going to come if Rangiku was coming and then Rangiku swore she's kill us both if we left without her so in the end captain Hitsugaya had to come along just the supervise the two of them and here we are"

After Renji finished Sakura was so dizzy from this explaining it was hard to keep up after regaining her barring she looked back at the five of them with that same blank look on her face.

"Is this a mission or a party?" Ichigo asked

'That's what I want to know as well' Sakura thought crossing her arms over her chest

The window opened and Toshiro was sitting on the window sill "In any case" Toshiro said "We're not sure why but we know Aizen has his eye on you Ichigo" Toshiro started

"What?" Ichigo asked frowning slightly

"Hey captain Hitsugaya you should've come down from the ceiling with us we didn't do that much damage after all" Rangiku smiled

"Have you been out on the window ledge all this time in plain sight?" Renji asked turning to face him "What if the neighbours report a silver haired elementary school burglar?" he asked

"Shut up!" Toshiro snapped "It's true enough that an arancars is born when the mask is removed of a hollow but simply taking the mask off on your run on the mill hollow wouldn't result in anything particularly dangerous anyone who was serious about declaring war on the soul society would need something big; something strong menos level and above"

"Above a mehnos?" Ichigo asked sounding slightly shocked "Hold on are you trying to tell me that there are hollows out there even stronger than the menos?"

"Yes" Toshiro replied "There are actually three different classes of beings under that name the first Gillian the lowest class within the menos and there are many of them they're main characteristic is that they all look exactly the same the menos that you banished from this world soon after you gained the power of a soul reaper was of this kind"

Ichigo thought back to that time he had trouble fighting that thing off "I guess you could call it a foot soldier"

Ichigo's eyes widened "That was a foot soldier?"

"They're big but they're slow and their intelligence is only slightly above an animal's it's hardly any trouble at all for a captain to subdue and kill it the problem is the next level this class is called the adjuchas they're smaller than the Gillian and there are few of them but they are higher intelligent and much better fighters and they control the larger menos and finally there are the Vasto lorde's the highest class within the menos they are equal to humans in size and there are very few of them within Hueco Mundo but I have to give it to you straight the grim truth is that these Vasto lorde's are believed to be even more powerful than the soul reaper captains are"

Sakura looked over at Ichigo and saw a grim look on his face; she thought back to Ulquiorra and could guess that he was one of those Vasto lorde's that the captain was talking about

"Exactly how much power the menos have gained by turning into arancars are still unknown but now that three of our captains are defected to lead the menos there's one thing we can be sure of if Aizen now has more than ten of those Vasto lorded under his control then the soul society is doomed"

Sakura gasped softly; she wondered if these things were really that powerful "Then there is also another matter we need to address" he said looking over at Sakura; she narrowed her eyes a little at him.

"According to reports from the department of research and development; this girl has shown an unusual display of powers that are above that of a regular soul reaper" Toshiro said

Sakura shrugged calmly "Well until a little while back I didn't even know I was one…."

"Well" Renji started "It was suggested that we bring you back to the soul society however the head captain had disagreed with the arrangement and had ordered that we join up with you for the time being"

Sakura glared now at them; her arms folded across her chest; this wasn't going according to her agreement with Ichigo.

"With everything already going on here it was decided that we shouldn't do anything about you as of yet" Toshiro explained

'They make me sound like I'm some kind of unknown entity' she thought to herself

"Well know this right now" Sakura said in a serious tone "I made a decision not to get involved with the soul society"

Ichigo looked at her slightly wide eyes; wondering what she was thinking sure these guys may act like idiots but they were from the soul society.

"I'm going to co-operate for my own reasons so don't think that I will be following orders; I wanted to set that straight" she stated

The soul reapers looked at her in silence as she began making her way out of the room; Ichigo stood up to go after her but Rukia stopped him and walked off after Sakura instead.

"Give me a minute; I'll go talk to her" Rukia said closing the door behind her

* * *

"Lord Aizen" Ulquiorra greeted as Yami bowed

Sitting on a chair in a dark room surrounded by several Vasto lorde's was Aizen "Welcome back Ulquiorra and Yami so tell me what you have accomplished here in front of your twenty brothers; show us what you have experienced in the world of the living"

"Yes sir" he replied swiftly as he reached a hand out for his right eye and took it out he held it in his fist "Here you are; see for yourselves" he crushed the eye and a blue light started to shine around everyone in the room; Aizen smiled as he kept his eyes closed

"I understand" Aizen said "So I see that you have decided he wasn't worth killing"

"Yes" Ulquiorra replied keeping his eye shut "The orders were to kill anyone who might be an obstacle and we learned that there was no one"

"You're soft!" a voice echoed through the room; looking back Ulquiorra saw a Vasto lorde's with spikey blue hair and teal eyes with a mask on the one side of his face ending at his cheek "If it had been me I would've killed both of them with the first strike"

"Grimmjow" Ulquiorra acknowledged the sixth espada

"What the hell were you thinking?" Grimmjow yelled angrily "If kill him was part of the orders then obviously you and that oaf should've killed him right?"

"And I agree" another vasto lordes said calmly "The boy stood up to you I say you should've killed him be he worthy or not"

"And look at you Yami; you're a mess" Grimmjow stated noting the giant hole in him "Then you come back and tell us he wasn't worth killing; well it looks to me like you couldn't kill him"

"Grimmjow" Yami started "It was clear I know you saw what happened that damn pink haired girl beat me up"  
"That is so pathetic" Grimmjow said "A female with pink hair beat you!"

Yami stood up and glared at him "Pathetic huh?"

"Enough" Ulquiorra raised his hand "Grimmjow; I don't think you understand that boy is no danger to us yet"

"Huh?"

"Lord Aizen isn't worried about what his current abilities are; it is his growth rate that is the problem as we learned the boy has tremendous potential; right now his powers are extremely unstable but I sense that if he doesn't self-destruct that he might prove useful to us in the future that's why I let him live"

"I still maintain that you're soft!" Grimmjow snapped "How can you be sure he won't become stronger than you predict and turn against us what about your plan then!? And if it wasn't just that you let that soul reaper girl live as well!"

"Should that occur I'll get rid of him and her that's all" he replied calmly to Grimmjow "You can't complain about that can you?"

"Then I'll leave it in your hands; do whatever you deem best Ulquiorra" Aizen said "There is now another target which I need you to investigate on further"

"Yes sir"

* * *

Rukia and Sakura had come back into the room without explaining what they had been doing or discussing. No one asked them though.

Sakura watched as Renji pried the soul candy out of Kon; Ichigo had told her about the modsoles and that they could be placed into things like dolls and make them come to life "That is so disgusting" Rangiku cringed "You got the soul out without too much trouble"

"Hey" Ichigo said glaring at the two of them  
"What do you want?" Renji asked stuffing the candy back into the doll

"Any idea when you guys are gonna leave?" Ichigo asked

"What do you mean Ichigo we're not gonna go home. We're staying here until our fight with the arancars is done no one leaves until then" Renji replied

Ichigo backed away from them a little "You'll be staying but where the hell do you all plan on sleeping let me make this perfectly clear we don't have space for you to stay here"

"Ah; you don't mean me do you?" Rangiku asked pouting at him

Ichigo backed up further "Yikes what the hell; no way you gotta be kidding me; you're the last person I'd let stay here" he stated "What makes you think I would in the first place?"

Rangiku undid one of her buttons on her shirt that she had already allowed half her chest to be left expose

Renji and Ichigo blushed "What do you think you're doing you can't change my mind by undoing a button!" he snapped

Sakura looked at Ichigo's face; he really was more innocent and naïve that he appeared to be.

Rangiku grabbed Sakura by her wrist and hauled her forward "Miss Rangiku?" she asked steadily "What do you think you're-

Unsure of what was to come; reaching for her collar she started to undo Sakura's buttons leaving half her chest exposed.

"HEY!" Sakura jumped getting away from the women and started to button up her shirt

"What do you think you're doing to her!?" Ichigo snapped trying not to look too much at Sakura "That's sexual harassment and that's not gonna convince me to let you stay!"

Sakura frowned as she quickly tried to button up her shirt; how the heck that women even managed to expose half her cleavage so fast was a mystery to Sakura not like she had time to think about that; her cheeks were actually stained a little pink from embarrassment.

Rangiku chuckled "Aw; so beneath that hard exterior she can be cute"

Sakura's left brow twitched in irritation as she tried not to lose her temper; that wasn't her style; that wasn't her image; she repeated that to herself over and over.

Before Sakura could comprehend what happened she was grabbed again and lost her balance falling onto the ground beside Rangiku who started lifting up Sakura's skirt; Ichigo covered his eyes

"Not even if you lift her skirt a little! And I don't s-see how it's supposed to convince me!" he said peeking through his eyes "Dammit I will not give into temptation a man like me doesn't give into temptation!"

"Really?" Rukia asked "Then why are you peeking through your fingers?" Sakura glared and stood up; brushing down her skirt.

"God you're all insane" she sighed in her usual calm tone; she started walking out of the door

After dealing with the drama and Ichigo had made sure not to have any house guests everyone came out side of the house after making all the noise everyone had left in case one of Ichigo's family members came to check in on them it wouldn't look right if they were caught then.

"Well what about your place Sakura do you have room for all of us?" Rangiku asked

"OH no" Ichigo shook his head "There is no way that she's going to host all of you!"

"Huh but why?" Rangiku whined

Ichigo placed his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes "Well for one thing the other residents in the building might complain about you guys and another is Sakura only has one spare room with one spare bed"

They all looked at Ichigo "How do you know she only has one spare room?" Renji asked

"He slept over a few days ago" Sakura said casually

"Wait did your parents allow that?" Rukia asked getting suspicious

"I live alone" she shrugged calmly

Ichigo tensed and looked at them; he saw they all had smug looks on their faces

"Oh Ichigo who knew you had it in you?" Renji snickered with everyone

"It's not what you think!" he said too quickly; feeling his face grow slightly hot "I just spent the night there because it got late and I couldn't go home since my clothes were wet and-

"Might want to quit while you're ahead" Sakura's voice cut in; she was frowning slightly with her eyes shut; the way he was making it sound didn't help them in the slightest

"I only have one spare room and Rukia's already asked me if she could stay with me"

Ichigo looked over at Rukia who was making a peace sign; he realise that that must be what Sakura and Rukia had talked about when they both left the room together.

"Fine then" Rangiku said "For now I'll be Orihime's guest and I'll sleep in her bed"

"Did you even ask her?" Ichigo asked cocking his eyebrow

"It doesn't matter; she's the kind of girl who just can't say no" Rangiku stated bluntly and Ichigo's sweat dropped he guessed she was right about that but even so…

"Captain how'd you like to come?" Rangiku asked

"No way I won't" he said fuming slightly; he didn't need another Rangiku; he started walking off with Rangiku following behind him

"We better get going as well" Ikkaku said and he and Yumichika started walking off

"Aw; here I thought I would get a chance to see Sakura's home" Yumichika sighed dramatically and Ichigo glared

"You got somewhere to go?" Ichigo asked

"Of course I don't there's not need to worry last thing I'd do is depend on you" Ikkaku said bluntly as he walked away from them

Ichigo gritted his teeth "Well how nice"

Renji started going off in the other direction "Well then I guess I'll be going to Urahara's place for a while"

"You gonna mooch off him again?" Ichigo asked

"I wouldn't dream of it just what are you saying?" Renji asked "However…." He trailed off for a moment looking at Sakura and then back at Ichigo "There is something I wanna ask him about"

"Is that so?"

"You; be careful now" Rukia waved him off

"So Rukia" Sakura started turning to the raven haired girl "Do you want to go over to my place?"

Rukia nodded "Sure"

They both turned to Ichigo "Well I guess I'll see you school" Sakura said

Ichigo nodded "Yeah see ya and thanks for taking her off my hands"

Rukia glared at him "Hey!"

Ichigo sighed; those two under the same roof should be interesting to say the least he just hoped that they would be able to handle it.

"And Rukia don't teach her how to draw!" Ichigo yelled as the two of them walked off in another direction.

* * *

Later that night after Rangiku had imposed on Orihime and everyone else was out and about wondering the streets Sakura and Rukia had gone over to Sakura's apartment after both of them had taken a little trip to the grocery store to get a few things for dinner and Sakura also got nearly everything Rukia had been eyeing for a while.

"Thanks for helping me with the grocery shopping Rukia" Sakura said as she opened the door "Here we are"

Rukia gasped "Wow; this place is amazing"

Sakura shrugged and pointed to the kitchen

"Just set the groceries there" she said going over to the kitchen; Rukia nodded and followed after Sakura

"Do you live alone?" Rukia asked

Sakura nodded as she started to pack away the groceries and getting out the plates and cups for the take out.

"Sorry; I'll cook tomorrow" Sakura said putting everything on the counter by the kitchen

Rukia was in the living room looking at the pictures Sakura had "Oh no it's fine really thank you and thanks again for inviting me into your home"

Sakura shook her head "It's no problem at all really; I'm happy to host you it'll be nice instead of being all alone"

Rukia nodded; she guessed that Sakura didn't have any real relatives considering her current situation it wasn't hard to point out. Rukia could see it in Sakura's eyes that she had been alone for a while now. She also seemed very distant; reminded her a bit of Byakuya oh she wondered what would happened if they met?

"Oh the bathrooms at the end of the hall" Sakura pointed "Just go that way and make a left"

Rukia nodded "Ok thank you"

"Oh right before I forget" Sakura said digging through the grocery bags she pulled out two other bags "Here"

Rukia took them "What's this?"

"Some clothes; I got you some pj's I think you're gonna like oh and a new dress for you" Sakura said sighing slightly "I'm not really as petite"

Rukia smiled she was really nice despite how she appeared to act; it was no wonder Ichigo seemed to take such an interest in her.

"Oh please no you don't have to do that" Rukia said waving her hand back and forth in front of her

"But I want to" Sakura stated bluntly

"Fine then" Rukia said unsurely

After Sakura and Rukia finished eating and taking a bath they were seated comfortably in the guest room helping Rukia get settled

"Is everything alright?" Sakura asked leaning against the door frame

Rukia sat on the bed it was soft and plush like a feather "This is nice"

Sakura chuckled a little "Ichigo said so as well though he pointed out it was a bit empty"

Rukia shook her head "It's just right"

Sakura nodded before going silent again; she watched as Rukia settled in; she waited until she was done. Rukia looked at her stoic face.

"Would you tell me something?" Rukia asked

Sakura nodded "I had heard that you have been defeating the hollows that appear here but it was almost instantaniosly I want to know how you did that"

Looking and Rukia she nodded; Sakura didn't know why but she trusted Rukia for some reason maybe it was because she was so close to Ichigo; when he told Sakura about being a soul reaper he told her that the soul reaper that saved his life and gave him these powers was someone he would never really be able to repay and who he trusted with his life.

"I don't know how but you could call it a fore sight of some kind; I can predict when a hollows going to come through to this world before they enter the world of the living and I can get there before them"

Rukia gasped astounded "That would mean that you're able to sense hollows in the passage between the two worlds" she said in awe "And when you…..returned the souls of those people?"

Sakura nodded; knowing that Rukia was referring to when she brought back the peoples spirits to their bodies "It's called Taiyo ga kisu (Sun kiss) it gives me the ability to erase anything within its domain; from an object to an event that may have altered an object and so on; that was honestly the first time I used such a large space before to bring back everyone's souls"

Before Rukia could continue Sakura tensed suddenly; she felt her body start burning "Someone's coming" Sakura said; this wasn't how she usually felt when she was detecting a hollow no this was something different than that.

"What?" Rukia asked

"It's like that other two…arancars" she gasped; she didn't understand how she knew but she did "There's…six" she panted "I've never felt anything like this before; they're here now they just got through to here! Now they….are searching; I've never felt something this clear before but I know they're searching for…..us"

Rukia grabbed her phone and started calling the others she tried but none of them would pick up; cursing Rukia and Sakura changed into soul reapers before leaping out of the door.

"We have to warn the others!" Rukia said

"I can go on ahead; I know where they are" Sakura said transforming into a soul reaper letting her body carelessly fall to the ground

"No; we do this together understand?" Rukia said "Can you feel where they are?"

Sakura nodded sternly "Yes"

Rukia narrowed her eyes and flash stepped faster; this was bad this was really; really bad. If they didn't get to their friends soon things were only going to get worse from here as a matter of fact all it looked like now was that it could get worse.


	10. Chapter 10

**Alright long story short; schools just started; things are hectic; lots of work to be done and chapters may be a little later than usual but please enjoy this chapter and eleven may be up soon if I can finish it.**

**Read and Enjoy**

* * *

Ichigo lied on his bed; looking up at the ceiling enjoying the rare silence and peace that he got when it came to being in this house. He wondered how everyone was doing; Chad and Orihime were still recovering from their injuries and were at home poor Orihime was hosting Rangiku; Renji was mooching off at Kisuke place and the others he wasn't even sure; he just hoped Sakura and Rukia were getting along alright. Ichigo closed his eyes thinking about the recent event's here he was enjoying the first real moment of peace his had in a long time

"Ichigo!" he heard two voices snapping him out of his thoughts and making him fall out of bed; he jumped up and looked at the window where he saw Sakura and Rukia in their soul reaper forms.

"What's wrong?" he asked rubbing the back of his head

* * *

Grimmjow stood above Karakura town with the five other menos; the reason he was here….he was sick of Ulquiorra not handling the situation properly now that he was in this town he felt the presence of a lot of spiritual pressures; there were about twelve at the least; the soul society he supposed while the others were going to take out all of them he had chosen two spiritual pressures in particular; he told them to stay away from the strongest ones since he wanted them for himself.

"There's no need to hold back" Grimmjow said "If they show any spiritual pressure at all I want them dead! No rest until everyone is caught. If they show even a glimmer of spiritual pressure; kill them don't let a single one escape!" he ordered

"Yes"

* * *

Ichigo looked at the two girls that were now standing in his room instead of over his window sill; he noted for future reference to actually close and lock his window. Sakura and Rukia had finished informing him about the arancars that had been sensed.

"You mean to tell me that you know there's going to be another arancars attack on us?"

Sakura nodded "At least I think it's arancars that I felt; it was a lot like the last time"

"Wait if that was true then wouldn't we feel it as well?" Ichigo asked "That there was arancars here?"

Sakura sighed impatiently "Ichigo I explained it to you already; I told you I can sense when a hollow is going to appear and it seems that arancars count as well"

"Well can you tell how many there are and how strong?"

"Yes and no" she replied "I can tell how many but power is a different story it seems with these guys"

"I'm going to contact others" Rukia said taking out her soul pager

Sakura; Rukia and Ichigo tensed as they felt the spiritual pressure suddenly burst through the house; the ground shook beneath them at the overwhelming power. Rukia looked at her phone.

"Six just like she said" Rukia whispered "They're on the move but it doesn't look like they're heading towards us"

Rukia glared at her screen and tightened her grip on it; by now everyone must have felt it already.

"What does that mean?" Ichigo asked his voice firm

"It means humans with the slightest amount of spiritual pressure will be killed" Rukia said

Ichigo frowned and grabbed his badge "Uryuu should have no spiritual pressure right now but what about Chad and Orihime?"

"Captain Hitsugaya and lieutenant Matsumoto are pretty close to her she should be safe with them nearby but Chads alone and there's one heading right for him!" Rukia said

Sakura tensed up again "They're already there….by them; Orihime"

"What?" Ichigo said his eyes wide

"We have to go" Rukia stated jumping out of the window with the two substitute soul reapers following from behind him.

* * *

Chad opened his eyes at the sudden burst of spiritual pressure he was feeling; he sat up from bed and looked around seeing two of Orihime's flowers. She had been sending them over to his house to heal him; it turned out he was hurt a lot worse that he thought at first almost losing his arm.

"You mustn't move around too much Chad we haven't finished healing you yet"

"I'm alright now" he said feeling his wrist "Go back to Orihime and heal her"

The two flower petals looked at each other unsurely but listened.

Chad rushed out of his house and around the corner; his armoured arm ready; then he felt it.

"What's this?" a voice asked

Chad looked to the side "You're not a soul reaper"

An arancar appeared around the corner coming at Chad ready to attack and kill.

He was about to aim for Chad's chest "No good" he said aiming his hand at Chad but then it was grabbed quickly by another hand. Chad saw Ichigo standing there with a serious look on his face.

"You shouldn't evaluate your attack" Ichigo said "Until after you've won the fight" he was standing in front of Chad now "You get what I'm saying?"

The arancars smiled "I suppose that's fair enough after I kill you there won't be any confusion" he said pulling his hand away from Ichigo "I'll tell the others that none of you soul reapers knew how to fight!"

Ichigo got out his sword and stepped forward "Chad step back ok?"

"Ichigo; if you're worried about my injuries-

"Chad please let me handle this" Ichigo said cutting him off

Thinking back to that time he was knocked out by that arancars he understood; his eyes softened almost sadly; he turned around facing away from Ichigo "I see fine; I'll leave him to you Ichigo"

He started running in the other direction wondering what would have changed Ichigo so much that it was like he didn't trust him to have his back for him anymore; Rukia came out with Sakura from the back

"Hold up Chad are you alright?" Rukia asked but he just ran past her; Sakura glanced from Chad back to Ichigo.

'What's he doing?' she thought to herself as Rukia and Ichigo came over to him

Ichigo and the arancars faced off "So how should I go about killing you?" he asked Ichigo

Ichigo started to un-wrap the bandages around his head "Rukia" Ichigo started

"Yeah I saw Chad on the way here he looked upset what did you say?"

"I don't know; I just told him to step back and let me handle this"

Sakura shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest and Rukia sighed "Step back Ichigo" making Ichigo look at her in surprise

"What?" Ichigo asked

"Right" Rukia said placing a hand on her hip "I'm telling you to step back and leave this guy to me; trust me you're way too eager for this battle"

"You're to tense you could get yourself killed" she said walking up to him; Sakura took a few steps back away from Rukia

"Oh Rukia I almost forgot your powers came back" Ichigo said snapping out of it

Sakura looked at him with a raise eyebrow "Ichigo you saw her in her soul reaper form nearly ten minutes ago"

"That doesn't matter" Ichigo said suddenly "I'm not gonna just stand by and-

"Sakura" Rukia said glancing over to pink haired girl "Restrain him please"

"Understood" Sakura leapt over towards Ichigo and grabbed him by his kimono without showing any signs of hesitation towards Rukia's sudden order

"W-What are you doing?" Ichigo asked her grabbing the wrist that was holding him

"Please step back Ichigo" Sakura said calmly as she continued to grip onto him

"Hey come on let go" Ichigo said trying to pry Sakura off of him but it wasn't any use; she was holding on tight; suddenly the arancars attacked Rukia and their sword and hand clashed as Rukia and the arancar flew across the street leaving a trail of dust.

"Rukia" Ichigo yelled as he struggled

Sakura watched the fight calmly while trying to maintain a hold on Ichigo; he might after all still be physically stronger than herself; Sakura had obeyed Rukia's orders because she knew that she was right when she said Ichigo was too eager for a fight like this one. Thinking of Ichigo being Ichigo he might have done something risky without even realising it.

Rukia leapt back; she launched herself from near a lamp post and came flying back towards the arancar; it blocked her it his hand "Nice to meet you; I'm arancar sixteen I'm called Dero" he said

"I'm in the thirteen-

"Never mind; you don't have to bother telling me; if I had to listen to the names and titles of everyone I was about to kill; I'd never get anything done" he said cutting Rukia's introduction short

Rukia narrowed her eyes looking calmly at him "I see" Rukia backed off away from him "Well then listen to this; at the very least you should learn the name of my zampakuto" Rukia raised her sword

"Dance; Sode no Shirayuki" Rakia's sword started to transform in to a snow white katana with a white ribbon at the end of it

"Sode no mai; Tsukishiro" Rukia appeared behind Deroy and ice started to form beneath him and encase him but he jumped up.

Laughing Deroy looked down at Rukia "Tough luck for your soul reaper the sky is my domain; it's where my true strength lies a sword that can freeze the ground isn't worth much up here"

"Well actually" Rukia started; the ice circle started to glow and shine brightly into the sky encasing the arancar once again freezing him solid "I never said my zampakuto could only freeze the ground; everyone in side this circle both earth and sky is within Sode no Shirayuki's domain" she finished as the ice cracked and broke

* * *

"Ouch Sakura come on stop it!" Ichigo yelled; he was currently lying on the ground trying to wrestle off Sakura but although he was physically stronger she was very persistent in holding on.

"Ichigo; stop it" she said

"I have to go save Rukia" Ichigo said struggling against her "Let go of me"

"No" Sakura said

Deciding she had no choice she started turning him around and sat on his waist so he wouldn't be able to move; her legs locked tightly around him and held his wrist but this position was a little bit more than what you would call a simple restrain. That made him stop but for different reasons. It was like a rerun of their encounter in her apartment.

"Ah" Ichigo blushed and started panicking "Hey; hey; hey; hey; hey!"

Sakura stared at him with a stoic expression meanwhile her heart was jumping a little in her chest "Promise that you're going to stay out of Rukia's fight?"

"Alright" Ichigo yelled

"Excuse me are the both of you done?" Ichigo and Sakura looked up and saw Rukia standing before them without a scratch on her. Sakura stared at her rather passively but she was actually very impressed.

"Rukia; so is everything ok?" Ichigo asked "What happened to the arancar? Did you defeat him?"

Rukia felt a red mark appear on her head "Of course; that's a stupid question otherwise I wouldn't be back here"

"Yeah true" Ichigo said and then he noticed her sword still in its manifestation form; he seemed to have forgotten about Sakura sitting on him.

"Rukia you're zampakuto is amazing" Sakura admired despite her tone

Rukia smiled at her and Sakura couldn't help the small smile that graced her face; she got up off of Ichigo and dusted off her skirt before offering a hand to him.

"Here" she said

Sakura suddenly froze in place all she could do was feel this strong spiritual pressure; it was mind boggling and terrifying for her; she couldn't comprehend what was happening right now and she didn't think she wanted to but this felt incredible it was a spiritual pressure that was stronger than anything she's ever felt before she shivered but it was darker; more dangerous and if they stayed here someone was going to get hurt really bad.

"We have to go" Sakura said quickly looking up at the sky "One's coming here and they're gonna-

Before she could continue saying anything the entire area began to shake; the spiritual pressure was incredible alright just like Sakura thought. She wasn't the only one feeling it now both Rukia and Ichigo were able to sense it as well.

"Oh no" Sakura gasped looking up

"What the hell happened here?" a voice asked "Deroys been killed; oh well"

Ichigo and Rukia followed Sakura's line of sight and looked up at the sky to see another arancar but this one was much stronger and looked much fierce.

"In that case it looks like I'll just have to kill the three of you; let me introduce myself" he smiled with an evil glint in his teal eyes "I'm arancar six you can call me Grimmjow"

Sakura stared at him with wide eyes her expression holding slight shock in them the other menos around them were able to sense this spiritual pressure as well Sakura just hoped that no one was going to be stupid enough to come here but it seems like they were all busy dealing with their own enemies.

Grimmjow started to lower himself onto the ground never taking his eyes off of them; as he landed closer to them they could all feel his power. Sakura feared the worst; this one was the strongest out of all of them.

Sakura stood there with Rukia and Ichigo and watched him

"Which one?" he suddenly asked looking between the three of them "Which one of you is the strongest; which one of you is gonna take me on?"

'Retreat' Rukia thought she looked over at Sakura and Ichigo "Get out of here; run!" she shouted

Suddenly Grimmjow flash stepped over to them and plunged his hand into Rukia's stomach; Sakura and Ichigo watched grimly as this happened not even having enough time to react as the air around them was almost suffocating. He flung Rukia to the side and she didn't get up.

"Rukia!" Sakura shouted in pure shock and worry

Ichigo was snapped out of his state and charged at Grimmjow with his sword but Grimmjow knocked him back with ease.

Sakura ran over to Rukia to heal her as fast as possible. Grimmjow started to release more of his spiritual pressure making the ground shake. Ichigo charged at him again but when he didn't however it wasn't any help at all because he was blocked by Grimmjow hand and then he used his spiritual pressure to send him flying back.

"Hey are you even trying soul reaper?" Grimmjow asked slightly annoyed "I don't want to waste the effort of killing you when you're not at maximum strength; I'm giving you a break kid I'm willing to wait until you summon your bankai"

Ichigo looked back to Rukia and Sakura; she had begun to heal Rukia with her Taiyo no kisu; she looked at Ichigo with a passive expression but eyes filled with emotions and one of them was worry. Knowing that he wasn't going to be able to turn back now; Ichigo held out his sword and released his bankai.

"That's more like it" Grimmjow smiled as he felt Ichigo's powers grow

* * *

Meanwhile Ichigo; Rukia and Sakura weren't the only one's having trouble with the arancars everyone else fighting were in a bunch as well. They were barely fending them off and were resorted to using their bankai as well. Sakura felt it; their powers were increasing as well it looks like whatever was restraining them before wasn't now they were starting to come to terms in power levels with their opponents. She felt the spiritual pressure of the arancars vanish one after the other. So that was the power of a soul reaper; she thought to herself. Ichigo and Grimmjow were now battling in mid-air avoiding each other's attacks but how long could they keep it up?

"Come on hurry" Sakura said to herself as she healed Rukia; this wound was taking longer to heal that she expected. Sakura put more force into her power and held it there; it was hard and although she didn't show it; Sakura's body always went into a state of pain and strain whenever she used it however that all depended on what it was she wanted to erase in her space and how large she made the space; how long and how large a scale she used it. She could see that it was at least working.

"Please hang in there" Sakura whispered looking at Rukia's unconscious form

* * *

There was a huge crash; Ichigo was coming at Grimmjow again but even in Bankai form he caught Ichigo's sword with such ease it was almost unnatural even for supernatural. He threw Ichigo across the area.

"Dammit" Ichigo cursed jumping into the air

Grimmjow suddenly appeared in front of him and was about to punch him but at the last minute Ichigo flash stepped again and swung his sword but Grimmjow caught it again.

"What is this guy?" Ichigo asked himself

Grimmjow then kicked him in his guy with so much force he spat out blood and went flying back down hard into the streets creating a crater. Grimmjow started flying towards him as Ichigo struggled to get up and stay on his feet; he was in so much pain and was convinced he might have broken a few ribs never the less he attack Grimmjow as he came towards him but he blocked it with such ease he made it look like child's play. He kicked Ichigo back again leaving a trail of dust.

He started walking towards where Ichigo crashed again with a big smirk on his face watching as Ichigo struggled to even move an inch; once he got there he picked Ichigo up by his collar and started landing a few punches in his face extremely fast and extremely hard. After a while he punched Ichigo up into the air and then kicked him back down.

"Is that all there is to your bankai?" Grimmjow asked "I gotta say it's a real disappointment you use your bankai and all it gives you is average speed?"

"Getsuga Tenshou!" Ichigo shouted aiming his bankai at Grimmjow; he managed to mare Grimmjow's arms which he used to block the attack and scar his chest

"Damn what was that? Ulquiorra never mentioned that in his report" Grimmjow said with a smile

Ichigo gave a cocky looking smile of his own "So maybe I won't be disappointing after all arancar"

Grimmjow started laughing evilly "Guess I was wrong about you; it may turn out that you're worth killing after all"

"Enough" Sakura's voice said as she appeared before Ichigo; she looked at him and saw his eyes. She looked up at Grimmjow with a stoic face; she wasn't in much of a great shape to fight either.

'There's no way we can beat this guy at our levels' she thought carefully

"Well about time you showed up; you're another interesting one I want to fight. Ulquiorra seemed to have taken a particular interest in you; I want to see for myself what's so great about you"

Grimmjow started taking out his sword but before he could another person appeared behind him but Sakura felt that this one wasn't an arancar.

"Put your sword down Grimmjow" he said

"Tosin?" Grimmjow looked "You wanna explain to me why you're here?"

"Why you ask; you chose to invade the world of the living on your own and you took five arancars without permission and then you lost them in battle. You have disobeyed orders you understand that much don't you?"

"Who is that guy?" Sakura asked keeping her hand on her sword; the sky had just split and a man in a white suit with purple hair and dark skin just appeared from the dark hole.

"It's one of the captains that betrayed the soul society" Ichigo said

Sakura and Ichigo watched as a hole was ripped in the sky "Hey wait" Ichigo shouted "Where do you think you're going?"

"Shut up soul reaper" Grimmjow said looking at them "I'm going home; home to Hueco Mundo"

"No you're not" Ichigo shouted attempting to stand up "You come here and then attack us and then you just leave!"

"Ichigo" Sakura said trying to get him to stop

"Get over it!" Grimmjow shouted back "The only reason you're still alive is because I'm leaving consider yourself lucky that attack you used obviously took its toll as well; I can see it in your face; I say you have about two or three attacks left in you but still even if you had hundred more attacks you wouldn't have a chance of defeating me in my release mode"

Ichigo visibly tensed at this; it looked like he hit the mark "What's that?"

"Remember my name soul reapers and you better pray that you never hear it again Grimmjow Jagerjaquez because the next time you hear my name you'll be a dead man I promise"

With that he vanished and the hole closed up; Ichigo coughed out blood again. Sakura looked at him sceptically; she wrapped her arm around his waist and put his arm around her shoulder to help support him.

"Sakura where's Rukia?" he asked

"She's safe; Rangiku took her after I healed her" Sakura said "Now come on let's get you healed"

Renji appeared before them looking at them as they got out of the giant crater

"Where did the arancar go?" he asked looking at Ichigo "Did you win?"

There was silence for a while "I lost" Ichigo said

"You stupid idiot that fact that you're alive means that you won" Renji sighed

"You're wrong" Ichigo said "If you were me; you'd feel the same way" Sakura looked at Ichigo "Truth is I haven't been able to protect anyone; I couldn't defeat our enemies; I was useless I lost"

Sakura could hear the despair in his voice as he said this.

* * *

Toshiro; Orihime; Renji; Rukia; Rukia's gigai with Chappy in it; Rangiku; Ichigo and Sakura were all gathered together at the top of a building where Orihime was checking to see if Rukia needed anymore healing but it looked like she hadn't even gotten hurt.

"Sakura; did you heal Rukia?" Orihime asked

Sakura grunted in response "Wouldn't say healed really but that's one way to put it" she stated before turning her head

"Ichigo" Sakura said looking at him; she held out her hand and she started to murmur something "Taiyo no kisu"

A blue light started to glow around Ichigo's entire body and his wounds started to heal fast; he felt the strength coming back to him and his lost spiritual pressure as well; it wasn't like when Orihime healed that was for sure; it was similar yes but different at the same time.

Sakura finished healing Ichigo and he was as good as new with improvements; Ichigo moved his body and there was no pain at all.

"Wow" he said "Sakura thank-

Ichigo watched as Sakura's eyes grew empty as she began swaying; he grabbed her quickly without a second though "Sakura!" he said panicked wrapping his arms around her shoulders

She looked at him panting lightly "I'm fine" she said

"What happened?" Renji asked

"My Taiyo no Kisu just used up whatever spirit energy I had left; I was still recovering from the last time I used it"

"I see" Toshiro said "So that's what happened"

Rukia started to wake up; she sat up and gasped feeling for her wound "Rukia's finally up" Sakura stated

"What?" Rukia looked at her wound "There's nothing there"

"Sakura healed you" Ichigo said glancing down at her for a brief moment

Chappy started crying and hugged Rukia as she looked at herself; there really wasn't any wound.

Sakura sighed almost tiredly; she hadn't even fought 'How pathetic' she thought to herself

"You should rest" Ichigo told her

"I'm fine….." she replied but in all truth she was having trouble seeing straight

* * *

A week after everyone's fight with the arancars things have died down and everyone was well enough to get back to school again; they were probably not looking forward to being questioned on where they were but at least they wouldn't arrive wrapped in bandagers. Rukia woke up in the guest room in Sakura's house; she got ready for the day and then went go see Sakura. Rukia wondered if she would be going to school today but when she went to Sakura's room she found it empty.

Rukia went to the kitchen and found a plate of food in the microwave and a message on the fridge from Sakura saying that she left early. Rukia wondered where she went since her school uniform was still hanging on her bed from what Rukia can remember. She was getting worried so she decided to head over to Ichigo's.

"It's time for breakfast let's eat" Yuzu said coming into Ichigo's room to wake him up "Hey Ichigo Rukia's here and she says she wants to tell you something" but when she entered she found he wasn't here; she looked under the covers and in the closet but he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"He's not here dad; I don't know where he's gone" Yuzu shouted running out of the room in a panic

"What?" his dad shouted

"He's missing?" Rukia asked

Rukia ran out of the house and down the streets wondering where the two of them had gone and what they were doing by vanishing like this.

* * *

Ichigo stood in the grass field by the forest where they had their first encounter with the arancars; he thought back to that time he was fighting and the time his hollow nearly took over him. Ichigo's eyes started to glow yellow and black filled them but then someone placed a hand on his shoulder and it stopped half way. Ichigo looked down at Sakura; she wasn't looking at him; she was staring out into the field where the crater still lied. They both stared at it calmly for a while.

"Ichigo" Sakura said in her usual tone

"I know" he said "It can't go on like this"

* * *

Meanwhile at school the teacher was giving role call and noticed something "For goodness sake there seems to be a lot of people absent today again" she observed "Ishida; Kurosaki; Kuchiki; Sado and Haruno; this isn't the first time for those guys I wonder what they're up to? Well since they're all Ichigo's friends I'm sure they're not doing anything terrible" the teacher said "I think I'll just let it slide"

Keigo stood up as the rest of the class started talking in disbelief at all of this "Well I'm a friend of Ichigo's can I cut class?"

"No Mr Asano; I'm afraid not" she said

Orihime and Tatsuki sat in class silently looking at the empty desks; just when they thought things were returning back to normal something like this had to happen.

* * *

Ichigo and Sakura walked through the run down part of Karakura town; it was deserted not a single person in sight; it wasn't somewhere anyone lived; there was very little chances of having run in's with anyone. The two high schooler's walked through the area for a while sensing where they needed to go in order to find what they were looking for.

"Are you sure about this?" Sakura asked Ichigo suddenly

"Yeah" he said "I'm sure"

Sakura nodded and walked beside him as they found their way to an abandoned warehouse. They glanced at each other before entering. As they went in the door closed behind them; there wasn't a moment they glanced back.

"Good job finding this place guys" Shinji's voice filled the room

Sakura and Ichigo looked in front of them and on broken floors of the buildings were eight people; Sakura recognised Hiyori who attacked her but she remained silent. It wasn't really unexpected after all.

"My so serious" Shinji started to laugh "I wonder what that means? Wait have you both finally decided to join us? I'm sort of impressed you found our hideout. I don't mean to put you down Ichigo but it is a surprise considering how much you usually suck at detecting spiritual pressure but then again with Sakura being able to detect a spiritual beings location before they even arrive at it I guess it's not that much of a surprise" he said "The bottom line is I figured you come here eventually to make it easier for you we got together and pumped out as much spiritual pressure as we could to help you find this place I guess it must have worked"

Sakura looked up at Shinji her expression unreadable now "The fact that you're here convinces me that you've finally decided to come over to our side" he stated "Am I right?"

Ichigo scoffed lightly and looked up at Shinji for the first time "Bite me!"

Shinji made a noise in surprise "I have no intention of joining up with you people; I'm not that desperate" Sakura wanted to tell Ichigo about their spiritual pressures but at this point she decided it was better for her to just keep her mouth shut for now

"I'm here to use you Shinji" he said bluntly

'Oh god; this is not starting off well' Sakura thought crossing her arms it would most likely draw out a fight

"Oh is that so?" Shinji asked in a mono tone

"I came here for one purpose in mind and I'm not leaving here until I get it; I want you to teach us how to control the hollow inside of us after that we're both out of here" Ichigo said

Shinji smirked "You must think we're just a bunch of push overs"

"I'll make you teach us" Ichigo said; Sakura remained silent no need to interrupt Ichigo's constant ranting for now

"Oh yeah how so" Shinji asked looking down at Ichigo and Sakura

Ichigo smirked "I guess I'll beat it out of you"

'Why doesn't that surprise me?' Sakura thought

"You're welcome to try" Shinji said

Ichigo got out his pass and turned into a soul reaper and then went for Shinji who had his sword at his foot and lifted it up; Shinji and Ichigo's swords clashed with each other again and Sakura watched as Ichigo was knocked down to the ground. The other five of the visored's were all just watching as they fought. Their heads followed as the two of them fought.

Sakura watched them from the other side "You're not worried about her attacking him?" one of the visored's asked but Sakura wasn't sure who it was.

"No" Hiyori said watching as their swords clashed once again

"Is she also really one of us?" another guy asked

"Yes Kensei" Hiyori replied

Sakura could tell that Ichigo was holding back; she could feel that his hollow was getting to him again. He was trying his best to hold back and at the same time not lose.

Sakura then looked at the visored's carefully; there was one guy with a star shaped hair cut (Love Aikawa) and a girl with dark hair in a ponytail with glasses and greenish eyes (Lisa Yadomaru) then another guy with a pink hair and beard and he was huge (Hachigen Ushoda) and a guy with light blonde hair (Rojuro Otoribashi) then there was also another guy who looked like a real rough guy; he had silver hair and brown eyes; he looked like he frowned more than Ichigo (Kensei Muguruma); there was also a girl with short green hair and brown eyes (Mashiro Kuna).

"Well this is surprising the boy turns out to be a good fighter" Rojuro observed smiling slightly "He seems to be holding off Shinji"

"Idiot" Lisa said "You better get your eyes checked can't you see Shinji is only playing with him?"

"To be honest it doesn't look like Ichigo's brining everything he's got to the fight either; he seems to be holding back" Hachigen said

"Yeah" Love replied "I figured that the guy gotta be pretty freaked out"

"Really?" Mashiro asked "Over what?"

"It must be his hollow" Kensei said "Little punks scared that every time he fights he's gonna release that inner hollow and he won't be able to control it that's why he wants it supressed that makes him damaged goods in my book; I don't know why we're trying to recruit this guy"

"Another thing is that girl over there" Love said looking at Sakura who was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest as she stared intently at the fight; her eyes looking very sharp. "From what Shinji reports she's been able to keep her hollow supressed somehow but she can't use it"

Kensei scoffed at her "She looks like a pixy" he stated

Hiyori started walking over towards the fight "Hachi add on another five more force fields"

Sakura looked at them and saw that Hiiro was talking to the large visored with the light pink hair and beard "Yes as you wish"

Ichigo and Shinji were facing off again "Ichigo you're finished"

"Shinji tag out!" Hiyori smacked Shinji with her flip flop and sent him flying back; she then looked over at the other visored's "Get moving I told you to beef up the barrier"

"I know but you didn't give me enough time to do it" Hachi said

"Fine never mind" Hiyori smiled "Ichigo let me tell you something; you've got the wrong idea about this"

"Oh is that right?" Ichigo asked

"It's true we've been playing around with the idea of you two becoming one of our comrades problem is it's not your choice you're not the one who makes the decision"

"What do you mean not my decision?" Ichigo asked

Hiyori smirked "It means the power to choose is entirely our choice" she told him "The bottom line is whether you join us or not is completely up to us. We look at your power and after we determine your strength we decide whether we want you or not it's just that simple end of discussion" she pointed at him "So stop coming in here and making empty threats; you and that girl don't have any choice in the matter do you understand if you're powerful we'll let you join us and show you what it means to be a visored we'll even show you how to control your hollow but if it turns out you're weak then you can forget it! We'll leave you to become a hollow and eventually you'll die a pathetic death"

Sakura could see a flicker of something pass through Ichigo's expression; he wanted to learn to control and use his hollow powers just like she had but only problem was again that neither of them wanted to get involved with the other visored's. Even though Sakura was aware that she had a hollow inside of her as well she still couldn't overcome the fact that she would be able to use its powers as she pleased. Because of the explanations she got she knew that the person in her inner world that looked like her was actually her inner hollow but she never wouldn't guessed that she was able to use its power. She had never had much conflict with it after the day she named it.

"Now if you get the picture let your inner hollow out let's see how powerful you really are" Hiyori said

"I won't do it" Ichigo told her stubbornly

Hiyori stopped walking "You still don't get it do you as I've told you before it's not your choice!" her spiritual pressure started too grown and a mask began forming; it was a diamond shaped mask with a horn in the middle of it.

"If you're just too much of a wimp to hollowfy then it appears I'm just gonna have to go to plan B one way or another I'll get it" she smiled "I'll drag your hollow out even if I have to end up beating it out of you"

Sakura narrowed her eyes as she watched while everyone else watched them from below in slight disbelief

"Don't be impulsive" Love warned

"Think about what you're doing" Rojuro added

Sakura watched dangerously close to them but she didn't want to get anywhere near the other visored's

"Tell me what you're so afraid of?" Hiyori asked Ichigo "A mask doesn't make you a visored; you still have to control your hollow don't be afraid Ichigo although it's true I'm not as nice as Shinji; if you don't get over your fear and hollowfy" she put the mask over her face "You'll be dead"

Hiyori was now an arm's length away from Ichigo; Sakura watched them as Hiyori's spiritual pressure increased.

"Because I'm going to kill you" Hiyori's voice had changed now

**There you have it; I hoped you enjoyed it and don't forget to review. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello everyone I hope you enjoy this next chapter; it's a bit short compared to the others but still please enjoy. **

**I want to give special thanks for all the reviews; followers and favourites and a special thanks to Platinum royal for all the reviews. Now I want to give a heads up for everyone that this story is based on the arancar saga in bleach so if you hadn't seen the previous episodes or read the previous chapters in the manga you may be a bit lost but you can still enjoy the story.**

* * *

Everyone watched as Hiyori and Ichigo clashed while Hachigen struggled to maintain his barrier around them so no one would feel that spiritual pressure; Sakura felt her body tense as she looked up at Hiyori and Ichigo they were really going at it alright but Ichigo was trying to hold back in order to supress his hollow another thing was that he was also afraid of letting it out.

"Ichigo" Sakura murmured watching as he fought against Hiyori

She was slightly shocked still at Hiyori's mask; being able to use it like that. Sakura had been curious honestly about Hiyori's offer to teach her how to use her powers but she had turned it down because she didn't want to get involved with something like this and then one thing lead to another when she got mixed up with Ichigo and she ended up here now. Ever since that day when she learned her zampakuto name and gave her hollow a name she hadn't been in her inner world ever. She didn't understand any of this until Ichigo explained it to her.

'I really am naïve' she thought as she looked up at them

She felt Ichigo's spirit energy spike; the hollow getting ready to break out at any time and it was not happy in the slightest it was trying to break through again. Sakura watched; Ichigo was backed up against a wall right now and Hiyori was looking like she was ready to kill him at any given moment.

"Stop holding back" Hiyori said "You still don't get it do you? What are you afraid of Ichigo?"

Hiyori took off her mask

"I'm not afraid of you" he said

"I'm gonna give you a little tip" she smiled "Use your Bankai"

"Shut up!" Ichigo snapped

"Just as I thought you're scared that every time you're forced to use your Bankai against someone powerful like me; you're gonna lose control of your soul to that frightening inner hollow of yours"

"I said shut up!" Ichigo shouted; pissed that Hiyori had hit the mark

Hiyori pulled out her sword for the first time and her spiritual pressure circled her

"Dumb ass; just looking at your faces pisses me off you're so scared it's pathetic. That's fine with me fight scared if you want to" she put her mask back on

"You don't have to use your bankai or hollowfy it'll save me some effort while killing you; you're choice"

She attacked him again and there was another burst of energy and they continued to fight; Ichigo's sword was almost slashed through by Hiyori. He tried to figure out how she does it; how she used her mask without losing her sanity.

Sakura felt like something was about to happen and there it was when Ichigo was knocked back; he temporarily lost consciousness. Hiyori came at him again but suddenly there was a new wave of spirit energy and half of Ichigo's mask was on his face now; he looked insane; his eyes were yellow again with black around and his mask formed on half his face.

He charged for Hiyori gripping her by her neck and driving her back into the other wall. Everyone else was shocked at this and went over to help her.

They appeared behind Ichigo as he choked Hiyori; their swords on his mask trapping him and it started to break and crack until it was gone; Ichigo was about to fall to the ground when Sakura walked over to him quickly as he fell.

"Ichigo snap out of it" she said kneeling down and placing a hand on his back

She turned around and saw the rest of them right behind her. Sakura narrowed her eyes slightly looking at them.

"Ok that's enough" Shinji said he looked up at Hiyori "Well Hiyori; are you satisfied?"

Sakura looked up at Hiyori and saw her shaking slightly of course it wasn't a surprise for her. That sudden appearance of Ichigo's masked gave Sakura a bit of a fright herself.

"You understand now don't you Ichigo?" Shinji asked "You're hollow can't be supressed by you simply focusing your mind on stopping it and it can't be stopped with your body either"

"You pass; we'll teach you control you'll learn how to deal with that hollow inside of you and as for you Sakura" Shinji looked at her "You passed the moment you entered here"

Sakura stared at him "So I don't have to learn to control my hollow?"

"From what we understand you don't because your hollow has never felt the urge to devour you" he replied "Therefore you've always had the ability to use your hollow's power but you just need to learn how"

"So you're going to teach me?" she asked passively

Shinji nodded "That's correct learning to control your hollow and learning to use its power aren't what you would call one in the same"

"So what you're saying is that even though I have the control of my hollow I don't have its power?" she asked

Shinji nodded again "That's correct"

"But now that just means training her is going to be more of a pain in the ass than Ichigo" Kensei said making Sakura snap her attention towards him.

"If I'm such a pain then why was it that Shinji was so insisting to make us join your little group when we turned down the offers?" she asked him

"We weren't insisting" Kensei shot back at her "If you ask me you look more like a pixie than a visored"

"Like you should be talking" Sakura said bluntly "You look more like someone from the mafia than a visored"

"What was that?" he asked glaring at her

"Ooh Kensei likes her" Mashiro teased "He likes her; he likes her" she cheered

"Shut up I do not!" Kensei shouted back at Mashiro

'What have I gotten myself into?' Sakura thought

* * *

Meanwhile back in Karakura town Rukia had reported Sakura and Ichigo missing to the rest of the team and told them to keep an eye out for them; it was decided better not to report this to the soul society because they were unsure of what kind of actions they might take against this and they didn't want anyone jumping to any conclusions. Kisuke had even been informed about this and he told them that there was nothing to worry about so she took his word for it they all did. The battle with the arancars could only make all of them conclude that the two of the must be out training together somewhere; it was a bit of a bother for them but they weren't going to think about it for now. Yuzu was worried sick about Ichigo and had been crying about him missing almost all day she went to bed with tears in her eyes thinking about him.

* * *

"Where's Mashiro with lunch?" Shinji asked "Hiyori lunch is late again and I'm starving make something to eat"

"Yeah; dream on" Hiyori shot back "You'll starve to death waiting for me to cook for you and even if I did I wouldn't let you have any"

"Hey Love" Rojuro called "Have you heard that new song from the Prince of Darkness that just came out; it totally rocks"

Love had tears coming down his face from laughing at what he was reading "No but have you read the latest issue of Shonen Jump magazine?"

"How could I?" Rojuro asked "You never let anyone else read it but you"

"Lisa I want you to keep a sharp eye on that soul reaper and look after him" Kensei said

"Don't worry I won't let him out of my sight" Lisa said reading a magazine never taking her eyes off of it

"Yeah but you're not watching him you're just sitting there looking at swim suit catalogues!" Kensei said

"Can it; I can see the soul reaper just fine from here" she told him

"That's not the point; you're on duty today aren't you you're supposed to be training him!"

For the last day the Visored's have had Ichigo running on a homemade contraption all day the moment he woke up non-stop without a real explanation of why and Ichigo was reaching his limit not on the treadmill but defiantly with these guys and Sakura hasn't even begun to start her training because they say they have to wait until Ichigo is finished. She'd been dealing with Kensei who she had taken an immediate disliking to. She wasn't there now because she was helping Mashiro and Hachigen getting lunch.

"Fine have it your way" Lisa said as Ichigo continued running "One two; One two; one two"

"Lunch is late" Shinji said again

"Stop talking about it; it's only making us more hungry than we already are" Hiyori said

That was it; Ichigo was going to lose it and without Sakura there to calm him it was not going to go well.

"I can't take it anymore!" he snapped kicking the contraption into Shinji's face making him bleed.

Hiyori glared at Ichigo pissed that he threw it near her "What's the idea; you try something like that again and you're dead!"

"I was just gonna say that to him" Shinji said getting up from the ground and wiping his face; he glared at Ichigo and Hiyori thinking about how similar those two were when it came to their temper.

"I SHOULD BE SAYING IT TO YOU!" Ichigo snapped "YOU BRAGGED ABOUT HOW YOU WERE GOING TO TEACH ME CONTROL AND HOW TO SUPRESS THE HOLLOW INSIDE ME FOREVER! SO WHY THE HELL ARE YOU IDIOTS MAKING ME RUN ALL DAY LONG ON THIS CHEAP; POOR EXCUSE FOR A CROSS COUNTRY SKI MACHIENE!?" he pointed at the machine lying in the corner

"Wait scratch that; you're not the idiots…I'M THE IDIOT FOR LISTENING TO YOU!"

Everyone sighed

"YOU ARE AN IDIOT IF YOU THINK IT'S A CROSS COUNTRY SKI MACHINE" Hiyori shouted back

The door opened and Sakura; Mashiro and Hachigen came in with lunch to witness the spectacle. Mashiro was being carried piggy back by Sakura. Not that Sakura had much of a choice since Mashiro just jumped onto her back and wouldn't get off.

"Lunch is here" Mashiro and Sakura said together

"Ah; sounds good I'm starving" Love smiled

Sakura watched as Ichigo and Hiyori argued with each other; she heard Hiyori tell him to stop whining about their training methods and now they were calling each other names.

"Should we interrupt them to tell them lunch is here?" Sakura asked putting Mashiro down finally; she craned her head to one side and sighed.

"Na; don't bother" Love said taking his lunch box "I'll eat there's"

Sakura narrowed her eyes "I'll keep a hold of Ichigo's" she said being sure to keep one box in the packet.

"Oh is that right?" Love asked

Sakura narrowed her eyes not licking the smug look he was giving her but other than that ignored him.

"They seem to be awfully angry; why are they fighting?" Mashiro asked

Love sighed "Well he doesn't seem to like the Hiyori super training"

"What; he was still on it?" Mashiro asked

Sakura winced slightly when Hiyori took Shinji and threw him at Ichigo; that was going to leave a mark. While they were fighting Sakura started helping to hand out lunches to everyone else.

"If you ask me I don't think Hiyori explained the theory of the raining treadmill very well so I can understand why the soul reaper is so upset?" Hachigen said

'There's a theory to this?' Sakura thought even she was a bit doubtful about that as she handed the box to Lisa.

"I have to agree" Kensei said as they watched Ichigo and Hiyori fight "Whenever giving orders she always leaves out one or two key details"

Sakura frowned slightly at this rate neither of them would be training any time soon and she hated that she was just sitting around wasting time not to mention missing school it wasn't that she had much of a care for it but still if she wanted to graduate before she was thirty she had to pass and that included being there.

"Do I have to do that also?" she asked them watching Ichigo and Hiyori duke it out

"Well…"

Hiyori grabbed the treadmill and started running towards Ichigo "Quit complaining and keep running until you drop!" she threw it at him hitting him in his face before it bounced off

"Why you" Ichigo growled rubbing his chin

Shinji came up to them "Calm down Ichigo; the stupid Hiyori treadmill trainer-

"It's super" Hiyori snapped but Shinji just ignored her

"Is the foundation for your future training" he said

"The foundation" Ichigo asked not really understanding what Shinji meant by that

"We determine the next level of your training based on how long you can run on the treadmill" Shinji told him

"What exactly do you mean?" Ichigo asked calming down

"Just listen to Hiyori ok? Stop complaining and get back on her senseless treadmill training"

"For the last time it's the Hiyori super trainer you dumbass!" she interrupted again

"After about three days you'll collapse from exhaustion" Shinji said "First we break you down and then we build you up by teaching you how to control your hollow transformation"

"What that's a joke!" Ichigo said pointing at the treadmill "Well you can forget about three days I could run on that thing for almost a week without getting tired; I get it ok that stupid thing is designed to drain me of all my spirit energy. Well big deal; you wanna measure my maximum spirit energy output by seeing how many days I can run before I collapse. You idiots with the spirit energy I have now I can go at least five days straight on that thing there's no point in testing me like this just teach me how to control my hollowfication already" by now all of the visored's were gathered together and listening to Ichigo rant

Sakura sighed but she couldn't help but feel that Ichigo was right about what he said; his spiritual pressure was almost constantly flowing out of him and he always seemed to have more; made her wonder how strong he would be if he was able to control his power from the beginning.

"I don't have time to waste on this crap dammit" Ichigo shouted "I cannot afford to lose any more time playing around with you visored's"

"Shut your mouth!" Shinji snapped taking Sakura by surprise and Ichigo instantly shutting him up "You don't have time? That's really something coming from a guy who doesn't even know how long it takes for the Hogioku to awaken"

Ichigo looked dumbstruck "Wait a minute; what did you just say?"

"I said stop blabbing when you really don't know anything about the Hogioku or anything at all about hollowfication!" Shinji repeated

"What is this?" Ichigo asked still looking shocked "How do you know about…..how is it possible you know about the Hogioku?"

"I know all about it" Shinji said "The Hogioku; the arancars even Sosuke Aizen; I've known all about them for many; many years"

Shinji suddenly appeared in front of Ichigo holding his hand to Ichigo's face "Don't worry; I'll give you all the details another day; I thought it would be a good idea to take some time at the beginning so you can get used to us but now that I think about it you can already turn into a soul reaper; you can use your shikai and bankai…"

Shinji scoffed "I can see it would be better if we just jump right into teaching you how to control your hollow just like you originally asked us to" Shinji smiled as his hand started to glow "Are you ready Ichigo? I hope you don't regret this"

Ichigo was blanked out; Shinji closed Ichigo's eyes as Love carried him over his shoulder

'I hope we both don't regret this either Ichigo' Sakura thought gripping the sides of her arms gently

"Hachi; give us a two layered fault force field" Shinji said

"Alright then" placing his hands together he formed a force field around the entire warehouse

"Wait what's going on now?" Sakura asked

Shinji smiled "It's time for both of you to begin your training"

A part of the floor started to open up in the shape of a square once it was open they could all see a flight of stairs leading down to the ground. Everyone started walking in; the passage was rather dark though and it was long.

Soon they saw light; it was a giant area completely made of rock around them and there was a sky; Sakura wondered how it was possible that they went underground yet they ended up here and not in a cave or anything just the more wonders she will never be able to explain but has to live with.

Ichigo was placed down on the ground around all of them "Hey Hachi; throw up a force field here to" Shinji said

"What?" Hachi asked in surprise

"Don't what me; you standing there with your mouth open looking like you're trying to catch flies; just do it ok and seal off Ichigo's body as well" Shinji said

Hachigen started a chant and when he was finished steel bars appeared and landed around Ichigo's body there were about five and they were all connected with chains. Sakura wondered just what was going on with Ichigo now inside of him; she could feel a disturbance now within him; his hollow she could only guess and hope for the best now for him.

* * *

"Where could they have gone?" Orihime wondered; it's been a while now and no one's seen Ichigo or Sakura at school at all while Chad and Urihu haven't been to school lately either but she knew that Chad had been training with Renji and Urahara. Rukia didn't know where Sakura and Ichigo were either but did mention that she was sure that the two of them were training together somewhere.

"Orihime" Tatsuki called waving a hand in front of her friend "Something wrong?"

Shaking her head Orihime stood up from her desk "No; no I'm fine really"

Tatsuki didn't look convinced though.

Rukia looked at Orihime from her desk and then glanced back out of the window; she was also worried about Ichigo and Sakura though she was sure they were safe and getting stronger somewhere it's only been a few days; Rukia had made sure to keep Sakura's house in top condition while for Orihime they had implanted all of the equipment needed to contact the soul society. Ichigo's family didn't seem all that worried but if you looked closely you could tell they were; especially poor Yuzu who doesn't know much about the real world they live in to understand like Karin and her father does.

* * *

A sudden explosion of spiritual pressure got everyone alert; they looked over at Ichigo's unconscious body lying on the ground with the steels bonds on top of him. They looked heavy almost like they could crush his form; it wasn't a joke those bars were huge and thick and looked like they weighed a ton each. How anyone could withstand that or at least not wake up was beyond comprehension.

"Sakura" Shinji called her

"What is it?" she asked turning to him calmly masking the worry in the pit of her stomach.

"You've been rather patient haven't you?" Shinji asked her smiling a little

Sakura glared at him slightly "What do you mean?"

"If I recall you said you wanted nothing to do with being a visored and to be honest it doesn't look like you have much of a reason to learn use your hollow or get yourself involved with any of this and yet here you are waiting patiently for your turn to train" he paused a moment "You didn't just come here for the hell of it right?"

Sakura stayed quiet and turned her head away for a moment "Of course not; why would I do that?" she asked gripping her left arm with her right hand.

"And you also just don't seem like the type of girl who would blindly follow after someone if it meant trouble for you" Shinji stated "This just doesn't seem like your style"

She scoffed softly; thinking carefully before she replied "Maybe you're right this isn't my style"

"So why did you come here?" Shinji asked here again

She looked up at him with a slight frown on her face; she knew what he was doing; poking fun at her because he knew what her answer would be "The truth; I came here for Ichigo" she replied bluntly crossing her arms over her chest "I owe him helping me"

Shinji smirked and had a smug look on his face "Don't get so cocky" Sakura warned him "It's not just for that reason; I also want to learn how use the hollow inside of me as well"

"Why's that?" Shinji asked

"Why are you asking me all of these pointless questions?" Sakura countered "You were the ones who wanted to recruit us; we came. I don't see the need to question our motives"

"Ah; I see" Shinji replied after a brief moment of silence "Very well then how about we begin now for you as well"

Before Sakura could comment him on his reply; he flash stepped behind Sakura and knocked her unconscious before her mind could register what was happening.

"Hachi put a barrier around her as well; if she's exposed to this kind of spiritual pressure the way she is there's a chance she may hollowfy without even realising it and also lose control" Shinji said

"Alright" Hachi replied; a light box started to form around Sakura's unconscious form.

"We're starting with her to?" Lisa asked

Shinji nodded "Yeah"

Suddenly there was a large release of spiritual pressure; everyone looked over at Ichigo's body; the seals on his body were starting to move.

"Here it comes" Shinji said

Ichigo's head lifted up but it wasn't him; half of his hollow mask was on half of his face; his eyes had changed and he had a mad look on his face now. Lisa walked up to the shield around him and told Hachigen to open it; for her to go in.

"Let's try not to kill him Lisa" Shinji suggested

"Yeah if he doesn't kill me first" she said going into the barrier area

**There you have it everyone; hope you enjoyed the chapter **


	12. Chapter 12

**Ok everyone here we go again; you know the drill please read and enjoy but just to let you know this is an extra-long chapter I'm posting; so don't be mad if I don't update in a while but rest assured I already started on the next chapter and please keep reviewing; it's what keeps me writing. **

* * *

Sakura felt like she was floating; the atmosphere around her light as she opened her eyes and she too in her surroundings; her familiar surroundings as she became aware of her inner world. She walked on the ground covered in ice of different shades of colour; the sky as dark as ever and the trees falling with multi coloured petals.

She heard a voice behind her

"Long time no see or not"

Sakura turned around calmly and faced a pale girl with long white hair; yellow and black eyes in a white soul reapers uniform and a small smirk on her face

"Nice to see you to" Sakura stated looking at her "Kyora"

* * *

Meanwhile ten minutes had passed by Lisa was finished fighting off hollow Ichigo after ten minutes and now it was Kensei's turn to go in; Ichigo's mask was almost fully formed and there was a hole forming around his chest with some white amour like substance that all hollow's had.

As hollow Ichigo charged for Lisa Kensei stopped him and kicked him back; he threw Lisa a watch "You're times up; my turn" he said

Lisa left and hollow Ichigo was getting ready for another strike at him.

Shinji and everyone else sat around them 'Stop messing around Ichigo' Shinji thought 'Or else we'll be forced to kill you'

Hiyori looked over at Sakura who was just lying there unconscious inside of the barrier 'It'll be your turn soon' she thought

They had to keep an eye on both of them or it might include fighting two soul reapers in an unstable hollowfied form and if it came to that then their plans for new recruit's weren't going to matter

* * *

Sakura sighed heavily and looked around "This place hasn't changed a bit"

"It's been a while since you showed up I'm surprised you've noticed" her hollow remarked

"Where's Kuresento Kage Rozu?" Sakura asked noticing the absence of her zampakuto

Her hollow smirked "Oh she's somewhere"

Sakura looked at her and narrowed her eyes; she remembered what Shinji told her about how she was probably able to control her hollow.

Kyora looked at the pink haired version of herself with a passive expression much like the one Sakura gave everyone "What is it?"

"Did you know?" Sakura asked clenching her fists slightly "Did you know that I could use your powers?"

There was a moment of silence between the two as they stared at one another's familiar faces

"Answer me" Sakura said crossing her arms

"Yes" her hollow replied swiftly as if she was finalising an order "I've always known that you could use my power"

"Then why not tell me?" Sakura asked

Her hollow scoffed at her "Because you were too weak at the time; think about it carefully; a girl at your age wielding my power; a hollow's power"

"So you know" Sakura stated; her inner hollow knew everything about what they had been told.

"I've been listening" Kyora shrugged; she smiled and looked at Sakura it was a smile that most people used to hide behind

"I want to know how to use your power" Sakura said getting to the point "I don't care what it takes"

Kyora cocked her head to the side "No matter what?" she smirked "If you're so sure…."

"Of course" she replied

Appearing in front of Sakura she gripped her wrist tightly "Come with me"

With that being said Sakura's inner world started to change and manifest; the sky's changed from dark to blue; there were buildings everywhere around them and it seemed to have no end. So this was Ichigo's inner world. Sakura started looking around for Ichigo and saw him fighting with his hollow.

"What is this?" Sakura asked narrowing her eyes at her hollow "Kyora where have you taken us?"

Giggling slightly she looked at Sakura with a sly grin "This is Ichigo's inner world; where his hollow and zampakuto lies"

Letting the information sink in she started asking "How long have you been able to do this?" she asked referring to take them to another soul reapers inner world

Kyora shrugged "I guess always; I just never tried it before; it seems like ever since you came into contact with Ichigo and the others my own awareness has grown; same goes for Kuresento Kage Rozu"

Looking down Sakura noticed the battle about to begin between Ichigo and his hollow

"Shouldn't we hide?" Sakura asked

Kyora shook her head "No; we can see them but they can't see us"

They were both in their bankai stages when Sakura arrived and were clashing together with their blades. There was a sudden flash of black and white coming at them but it just went straight through them.

"We're only seeing what's happening we're not actually there" Kyora explained as Sakura clutched onto her hollow's arm slightly before letting go

"What's going on?" Sakura saw Ichigo fighting with his hollow but he seemed different even in his bankai form there was something off

"His hollow is showing him an illusion while his fighting" Kyora explained "It's a lot like with what I'm doing here with you except we get to see what's actually happening in Ichigo's world; his hollow is showing him a past battle while fighting him I don't know why though"

Their blades hit again and Ichigo was backed up and then he used his Getsuga tenshou suddenly but the hollow blocked it and then attacked him with that same attack again.

"This could take a while" Kyora sighed placing a hand on top of Sakura's head

Sakura clutched onto her arm tighter as she watched the blood drip from the hollow Ichigo's blade; his coat was slashed and the bandages around his chest were visible; he was panting as the gash in his chest bled.

"I told you; you're not good enough Ichigo" his hollow said; he had a big smile plastered on his face "Didn't you notice I was the first to use Getsuga tenshou and you? All you did was watching my techniques you tried to imitate me and failed miserably you're incompetent but you know that don't you?"

Flashing stepping over to Ichigo; he grabbed his sword as Ichigo just stared "You might as well give up" Ichigo's blade started to change from black to white "You're not good enough at bankai" his hollow crushed his sword and Ichigo watched as it vanished.

'Come on Ichigo' Sakura said worriedly

"This is not starting off well" Kyora said; she turned her gaze to Sakura and smirked slightly at the expression on her face

* * *

Lisa was panting heavily as she came out of the barrier "How much of a break do I get?"

"If all of us rotate in on schedule its ten minutes time's eight people so that's eighty minutes" Shinji said

"What about Sakura?" Lisa asked

"No" Hiyori said "She won't be participating in this and you can't count her it's only seven"

Shinji groaned "Fine then that makes six people which means sixty minutes"

Hachigen's sweat dropped; he didn't understand why he was involved he thought he was only supposed to set up the barrier not fight against Ichigo.

'Ichigo is strong' Lisa thought 'A lot stronger than I thought he'd be'

"You'd better be very careful while you're fighting out there Kensei because if you aren't…

Kensei dodged another attack from hollow Ichigo; he attacked with his bankai now but Kensei dodged and slashed at Ichigo's body cutting him but when he did more of the white armour started to form. Kensei took his sword and started to form and energy bomb with it to counter Ichigo.

"He's so serious what's up with him?" Hiyori asked

"Don't be so critical you'll see why when you get in there" Shinji stated

Kensei hit him with his spiritual pressure sending him flying back but when the smoke cleared something appeared and came at him pushing him back.

"What hell is this?" Kensei hissed

He destroyed it quickly and as the smoke cleared he got a look at Ichigo "You've been transforming faster than we expected" Kensei smirked

* * *

Sakura watched as Ichigo's blade vanished into thin air "Zangetsu" Ichigo said in alarm

"I keep telling you that isn't Zangetsu" his hollow said "I keep saying that I am Zangetsu"

Ichigo was grabbed by his face and pushed back threw one of the buildings "I must admit it never ceases to amaze me just how brainless you can be; you've lost your weapon why are you just standing there?"

Ichigo glared at his hollow; he started to swing his sword around with his finger through the hole in his chain. "Ichigo; do you know what the difference between a king and his horse is?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ichigo asked calmly

Sakura looked at Kyora "What does he mean?" she asked Kyora

"Exactly that; you're about to find out" Kyora said pointing at the hollow "What they're doing in this fight is to determine whether or not Ichigo is worth enough to yield the power of his hollow" Sakura looked at them.

'Is this what I have to do to wield her power?' Sakura thought

"And I'm not talking about obvious stuff like ones an animal and ones a person and one has two legs and one has four" he told Ichigo "Form; ability and power! That's what's puzzling; if their form; ability and power are exactly the same why's it that one becomes the king and leads them into battle?"

Ichigo glared at his hollow as he listened trying to ignore the pain in his chest "While the other becomes the horse and carries the king? So what's the characteristic that determines these two beings?"

"But you never done that to me" Sakura said

"Because I was never interested in possessing you; while most of the other inner hollow wish to take control of their host because of a unique circumstance for me; I've never had that power lusting urge"

Sakura closed her eyes and nodded "It's like Ichigo's hollow says we are the same but with different characteristics I'm sure you noticed it between you and I"

"So are you intending to allow me to wield you power?" Sakura asked

Kyora glanced at her for a brief moment Sakura saw something flash in her eyes "Well that depends on you" her hollow crossed her arms over her chest "It all depends on-

"Instinct!" hollow Ichigo shouted "In order for identical beings to get stronger and gain power they need to develop a killer instinct and that instinct is mostly forged in battle! They must develop and insatiable hunger to engage in battle; they must live to mercilessly crush; shred and slice their enemies" his hollow began to spin his sword around again "This thirst for power is not an unnatural desire in fact it forms the very essence of our being deep within our bodies lies the honed instinct to dominate and slaughter our enemies!"

"Yeah just like he said" Kyora told Sakura "We don't have hearts so this is all that will run through us; I'm you instinct and believe it or not even you have that killer instinct; that is what you are trying to obtain and control now to bend to your will"

Sakura returned to watching Ichigo knowing that if she said anything it would just upset Kyora.

Ichigo looked shocked at what his hollow said to him "My friend you don't have that you use your brain to try and win a fight! You attempt to defeat your enemies with reason and logic; you don't tap into those pure base instincts that exist within your core!" he stopped spinning the sword around "The simple reason you can't do that's because you're weak!" he threw the sword at Ichigo and it landed into his stomach.

Sakura gasped as she watched "I won't put with that am I clear? I don't know about Zangetsu but I refuse to play horse to a king who's weaker than me; someone's who's uncertainty and hesitation will end up getting us both cut to pieces!" he started walking over to Ichigo "If you aren't willing to assert your strengths and retain the crown then I'll destroy you" he took a hold of the sword in Ichigo and smirked "Which means I'll be king"

Ichigo's eyes were blank now; suddenly as the hollow began to pull on the sword in Ichigo it began to turn black and he backed away; looking at his hand it was no longer white but the same colour as Ichigo's.

* * *

The visored's sat around the shield as Love went it had been passed a full hour now and things were not looking good; Ichigo was almost a complete hollow now. His mask was fully formed and his body was taking on a form that wasn't human anymore; there was barely a speck of his orange hair under the mask and his body had been covered up with the white clay like armour and his powers were very unstable.

"Kensei" Lisa called "What's the longest time any of us have taken to control our hollow?"

"It was Hiyori sixty nine seconds" he said

"How many minutes has it been now?"

"Sixty eight" he told her

This was definitely not looking good for him. He was almost fully transformed there was barley anything left to identify him as a soul reaper.

* * *

Sakura watched as Ichigo pulled out the sword as blood fell from him; his eyes began to shine blue; his face was different than before the way he was looking. His hollow stared at him in disbelief. Ichigo started to swing his sword in his hands and then attacked his hollow.

"Do it" Sakura murmured

Ichigo rammed his sword into his hollow and it started to change "Damn what do you know I guess I must have been wrong about you" his hollow told him as the sword began to consume him "Looks like you still have some of that killer instinct in you after all"

Sakura watched as the hollow began to burn away into nothing

"Fine you defeated me" he said "You have won the fight for now; I guess I have no choice but to accept you as the king still I don't want you to forget while you're strutting around like a king on his horse I can take that crown away at any time" he smiled evilly "I'll keep an eye on you and he moment I sense the slightest weakness ; Ill toss you to the ground stomp on your skull and crush it like an egg!" he grabbed hold of Ichigo's sword

"Just one last piece of advice before I go if you're serious about controlling my power then all you have to remember is one thing…" he started to glow "Don't get yourself killed before we meet again!"

* * *

Kyora grabbed Sakura and took her out of Ichigo's world and back to her world; she looked around there was no sign of Ichigo.

"What now?" she asked Kyora tightening her fists

"Now it's your turn" Kyora said looking at Sakura "You have to go back"

"Not until I learn to use your power" Sakura replied bluntly she took out her sword and transformed it "Now hunt Kuresento Kage Rozu"

Kyora looked at her host and raised a hand; Sakura gasped as her scythe began to glow and then suddenly shattered into pieces; more like red petals flowing in the wind.

"What did you do?" Sakura asked; her eyes wide and hands trembling in shock "My zampakuto"

"Is who you have to find" Kyora said making Sakura turn her head to her

"What?" Sakura asked "What have you done?"

Kyora pointed up at a mountain in the distance "Go to that mountain and find Kuresento Kage Rozu; then and only then will you discover how to use your powers correctly both mine and hers"

* * *

Everyone gathered around the shield and gasped when she saw a huge light starting to grow with in it. There was a huge explosion; there was Ichigo; his hollow skin fell off and all that was left on his was the mask as well as the wounds he got in his world. The hollow parts around him shattered like glass. Everyone stood and watched him.

"Now Hachi" Shinji said

"As you command" he snapped his fingers and the shield vanished

Ichigo started to fall down and hit the ground; his mask fell off still intact though

"He looks pretty banged up you think he'll be alright?" Asked Mashiro

"Shh"

Shinji walked over to him "So how do you feel now?" He asked Ichigo

Ichigo turned around and looked at them; he smiled "Fine not bad at all"

Shinji smirked at Ichigo "Very good" he said reaching for his sword he picked it up and smiled.

* * *

Sakura had gone over to the mountains as she was told to and started searching for Kuresento Rozu; she was walking the mountain area or at least what she could describe as a mountain area; the mountain was coloured ice blue; the sky had become a twilight of different colours; the trees were different; they only had red petals falling from the trees contrasting with the mountain area. There was never any feel of the breeze that blew through her inner world.

Sakura came to a forest in the mountains; this was what was called the sapphire forest; she looked around; Kyora said that she would find Kuresento Kage Rozu at the peak of the mountain. She was sure she was there now. How she knew was the killer view; literally killer.

Turning around she began glancing around the empty field; there wasn't anyone here though.

'Am I at the right place?' she thought to herself in doubt; she shook her head "No; this has to be the right place"

"Good job" a familiar voice said; turning around Sakura saw a girl with a red hood; black dress; silver eyes and short onyx hair.

"Kuresento Kage Rozu" she looked at her zampakuto and almost smiled forgetting how cute she was almost.

Her zampakuto smiled at her "It's been a while hasn't it?"

Sakura nodded "It has; I'm sure you know why I'm here right?"

Kuresento Kage Rozu bobbed her head in reply "Of course I do; you want to know how to manifest Kyora's power and form her hollow mask correct?"

"Is there really any reason to ask such a question?" she replied "I found you now what?"

Another voice cut into through the air; Sakura turned around and saw Kyora right behind them with her arms folded and a smirk on her face. Sakura looked back and forth between her hollow and her zampakuto.

"What now?" she asked them

A splash of silver hit the sky and then the ground began to shake; something shot down from the sky and landed in the centre of the field before a pillar began growing until it was about ten feet high. Sakura stared up at it in confusion and then back to the two beings before her.

"What's that about?" Sakura asked turning back and forth between the two

Kyora appeared beside Kuresento Kage Rozu in an instant "This is to help you learn to use your powers"

Sakura cocked her head to the side "Wait; what do you mean?"

"We're going to teach you how to form a mask and….." the two glanced at each other for a moment before turning back to Sakura "To achieve Bankai"

There was a moment of silence as Sakura allowed the information to sink into her "You're going to teach me how to use my bankai to?" she gasped

They shook their heads "Not how to use it just help you achieve it so that you can summon it" Kuresento Kage Rozu corrected her

"Alright" Sakura said with determination in her voice "How do I do that?"

"In order for you to gain the power of bankai and become a visored you have to get that snowflake crystal" Kyora pointed up to the large pillar

Sakura raised an eyebrow that sounded too easy to her and she was right it was "However you can't fly up and grab it or climb the pillar basically you can't lay a hand on it"

Sakura looked at him strangely "Then what am I supposed to do? How do I get it?"

"Simple" Kyora smirked drawing her sword and then after turning it into a scythe; Kuresento Kage Rozu pulled out her sword as well and transformed it. Sakura narrowed her eyes at them.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked

The held out their scythes towards Sakura "In order for you to achieve both your visored's mask and the ability to transform into a bankai state you have to defeat both of us"

Sakura's eye's narrowed dangerously at them "So I'm supposed to fight the both of you?"

"That's right" Kyora replied "You're going to have to fight us just the way you are"

By that Sakura knew she meant without a weapon the only thing she was able to fight back with was her own physical training and her Taiyo no Kisu which she begged was going to be enough to fight against these two.

"Alright ready Sakura" Kuresento Kage Rozu smirked "Because we're not going to hold anything back!"

And with that they lunged at her

* * *

Ichigo stood up and dusted himself off quickly; he was exhausted and had little to no spiritual pressure left. He looked around the group and didn't find any sign of Sakura.

"Where is she?" he asked

Shinji gestured with his head "Sakura's over there"

Walking passed him Ichigo started going around the corner out of the other visored's sights.

"What do you think his reactions going to be when he sees her?" Mashiro asked

"I bet he's gonna freak out" Love said with a smile

"He'll probably try to break the shield" Kensei said in a bored tone

"Well we should find out in about five seconds" Lisa said

"WHAT THE HELL!"

The visored's sighed "Oh yeah he's freaked"

Ichigo stared at Sakura's form that was trapped in a force field; she was now attacked to a cross by her arms; her form was obviously unconscious. That wasn't even the main thing that got his attention about Sakura; there was a mask beginning to form from the top of her head but it wasn't fully formed yet.

"Sakura" Ichigo called banging on the barrier but it deflected him back

"Calm down Ichigo" Shinji said coming up to him "Sakura's fine"

He looked at him in disbelief "Does that look like fine?" he asked "Why are you doing this to her?"

"She's in her own training right now Ichigo; if she wins she will be a full-fledged visored like you" he said

"And what happens if she can't?" Ichigo asked with worry in his tone

Shinji turned to Sakura "Then there's not going to be much choice"

* * *

Sakura panted heavily as she glared at her zampakuto and inner hollow; she had been fighting for what felt like nearly half an hour and none of her attacks had been working; she's tried her Taiyo no Kisu but they managed to dodge the attacks and if she was using her fists which was near impossible since it was hard to break through the defence of a scythe with your hands.

Sakura jumped as she managed to avoid another attack and fatal blow by Kyora who seemed to be a lot on the attack. Kuresento Kage Rozu appeared behind Sakura and stuck her grazing her lightly on the back but it still stung no matter how light the cut was.

Flash steeping out of the way Sakura managed to make it a safe distance from them; Kuresento Kage Rozu charged at Sakura again and swung out her scythe; leaning back Sakura managed to avoid losing her head. They weren't joking around the way they were battling with her. She was convinced now that if she didn't do something soon she was going to be dead.

'But how can I fight back without a weapon?' Sakura thought moving out of the way again as the two attempted to clash with Sakura again. 'Come on Sakura think; think; there has to be a way to win and get that crystal'

They came at her again together in one go; Sakura avoided the scythe's but wasn't expected the next attack with Kuresento Kage Rozu placing her palm on the ground and creating an trail of sharp black beams coming at her and hitting her dead on luckily she managed to summon up a Taiyo no Kisu shield before it was too late. She didn't even know that it was possible for her zampakuto to do that.

'I've never seen an attack like that before' Sakura thought grunting slightly as she pulled out one of the black shard crystals in her stomach; it burned her being and even though it was out it actually felt like it was still inside of her.

Kyora smirked "Surprised huh? I guess here were a lot of things you didn't know about like being able to use spirit attacks with your zampakuto in its release form."

Sakura glared at her "It didn't come from my zampakuto" she said referring that it had come from a girl in a red hood.

Laughing slightly she looked at Sakura and placed a hand on her hip "You don't get it; that attack that Kuresento Kage Rozu just performed was an attack that she's always been able to use"

Sakura gasped and her eyes widened "What?"

"That's right" Kuresento Kage Rozu voice tinkled like a bell "That attack you just saw was called Tenshi Hanata (Angel hunter) it's the attack that will form in my release state. It's not something that you can stop with your sun kiss shield"

Taken back slightly by the news Sakura took a quick step back away from them both "This is insane; this power isn't real"

"Keep telling yourself that and see where it will get you" Kuresento Kage Rozu commented "You're scared Sakura; just admit it"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at them "I'm not afraid" she panted slightly as her wounds bleed freely

"Of course" Kyora started looking down at her scythe with a sly smile on her face "There's also another attack" her scythe started to glow a magenta colour and the blade grew; the energy surging through it made Sakura actually think that it was alive.

"Now watch carefully Sakura" Kyora said raising her scythe into the air "Akuma hanata (Demon hunter)"

Sakura gasped as she felt something surge through her hollow a power she didn't think was real

And with one swing there was a huge beam of a dark violet crystal coming at Sakura coming at her; then there was a huge explosion.

* * *

Ichigo watched Sakura under the barrier; her mask reforming for the third time in the past twenty minutes; so far it's been forming half way and then breaking and then forming and breaking. He wasn't sure why that was happening to her; Shinji had explained to him that at the same time while he was fighting against his hollow they had placed Sakura in there so that she could learn from her hollow herself how to bring about her powers in the mask but it was taking longer. There wasn't any need for them to fight against her though only to restrain her and no other part of her body had moved since.

He watched as her head was down and her body tied to the cross; it disturbed him slightly to see her like this. He hoped she was alright in there.

'Come on Sakura' Ichigo thought clenching his fists

The other visored's watched him as he sat crossed legged in front of the barrier as Sakura took on her transformation. They decided to stay a certain distance not really liking the thought of what the outcome might be.

"How long has it been?" Shinji asked

Kensei looked at his watch "Nearly an hour and a half" he replied

"It's taking her longer than any of us" Lisa said looking at Sakura's mask crack and vanish again before it started to reform "What kind of technique is this anyway; I thought that we were supposed to be bringing out her inner hollow"

"Not exactly" Shinji said "Sakura's a special case; with the control that came with her hollow her ability to harness the power of her mask requires a different method"

"Did he tell you that?" Kensei asked

Shinji nodded "Yeah; he said that this was the only way and that Sakura needed to fight her hollow alone it's all up to her"

"What would happen if she didn't win?" Rojuro asked

"Well in the worst cases either she would lose all of her powers together or die" Shinji replied

* * *

Back in Sakura's inner world the shock and tremor of the sudden attack had left a huge crater which Sakura had been staring at in disbelief. At the last moment Sakura had managed to avoid the attack again; that beam nearly cut her in half. Yet even though she had managed to by a miracle avoid the attack somehow she still ended up with a light gash running down her shoulder to her waist.

"How did that happen?" Sakura panted heavily "It didn't even touch me"

Kyora smirked as Kuresento Kage Rozu landed besides her "Weren't you listening to the name of the attack? It's meant to hunt and leaves a light phantom scar on its target even if you doge it; the amount of damage of course all depends on the spiritual pressure of the target"

'I had no idea that they could do that' Sakura thought wiping her forehead of the blood; her vision was getting blurry now.

She looked at her zampakuto and hollow and wondered for a moment why they were treating her like she was the enemy?

She closed her eyes tightly 'No; I can't think about stuff like that; I can't feel betrayed'

Opening her eyes she glared at them and two beams flashed towards them but Sakura was taken by surprise the way they deflected it away as if her Taiyo no Kisu attack was nothing more than a pesky fly.

"What?" she gasped; looked at her hands in disbelief she realised something

"That's right; you're almost out of spirit energy" Kuresento Kage Rozu replied

Sakura swallowed hard and narrowed her eyes trying to stand her ground; she knew that they weren't joking around about this; they really would kill her if she didn't do something quickly.

Kyora narrowed her eyes at Sakura before scoffing "Give it up" she said making Sakura's stoic face vanish with a look of surprise

"Don't go giving us that face of yours we know what you're really feeling!" she snapped and pointed at Sakura "You're afraid!" she stated

"You're afraid that you're going to lose because you think you're at a disadvantage here fighting without a weapon and the odds are stacked against you. Don't you see Sakura all you've been doing so far is fighting from what you thought was your own strength" Kyora and Kuresento Kage Rozu glared at her

"You're afraid that's why you hide behind that stoic mask of yours all the time! How pathetic could you be; you think you're so strong because you don't cry or because you don't have any friends or because you think you're alone?"

Sakura grunted in response softly as her eyes widened

"Well wake up Sakura; that's not the reason for any of that. The only reason for all of this is because you're afraid; the reason you're alone is because you're afraid of getting close to people; the reason you're losing is because you're afraid of dying."

Her hollow had a serious look on her face "If that's the case then we don't want to be a part of someone like you; we don't want to be a part of someone who's so weak that she pushes away her feelings and only uses her mind to make decisions instead of her heart. If you continue like this you'll never harness my power because you don't fight with your heart; you don't have a reason to fight; you don't have instinct; you're like an empty shell and all for what?"

"One accident" Kuresento Kage Rozu replied "You think you lost the entire centre of your world and you fall to pieces"

Sakura clenched her fists in anger; they were talking about Kyo like he was nothing to her; like he wasn't the one who helped save her from her nightmare. She couldn't take it anymore and charged at them blinded by anger only to miss them with her attack and then get two scythe blades in from her back and through her chest; she fell to her knees and coughed out blood.

"See Sakura this is what we mean" Kyora said "You think you can do everything on your own; you don't want to get close and depend on anyone because you're afraid you won't be able to protect them. You may have fooled Ichigo but the truth is after that night you talked to him you've fallen deeper into despair because you actually blame yourself for feeling something towards him"

Sakura couldn't reply; she could barely breathe in her state now tears of blood began to pour from her eyes.

"You're pathetic; thinking that you're so strong when you push everything and everyone away in the world. Thinking being isolated is going to make you stronger when in fact it weakens you" Kuresento Kage Rozu said holding onto the handle on the scythe

"Well we've had enough Sakura the time has come; if you don't realise it now what you have to do to win we're going to kill you"

Sakura closed her eyes 'Realise what? I have to be alone; I need to be; if I got to close to people they might get hurt. They knew that; didn't they? Look at what happened to Kyo I can't-

"What happened to Kyo was an accident!" Kyora's voice shouted "It's time to move on with your life and find someone else to protect and this time don't let them die; fight not because it's an obligation but because you want to protect something. The honour you thought you never had; the life's you want to protect!"

'Who would I want to protect?' Sakura thought feeling the life leave her body she wasn't able to move her body; not her legs or her arms she couldn't even move her fingers

'So this is how I die?' Sakura thought and it made her stomach twist; there was flash of orange that passed through her mind and something that felt like a pulse within her

'Ichigo' his orange spikey hair; his light brown eyes there was another pulse

'Ichigo' she continued to think; his scowl; his frown; his smile

'Ichigo' the way he reacted when she talked to him that night. It was all coming back to her and she didn't know why she got this warm feeling inside of her.

"I-chi-go" was the last thought that came to mind before darkness enclosed in on her and then a spark.

Kuresento Kage Rozu and Kyora looked at Sakura's limp form; they stood there in silence for a while watching as the girl bled to death there.

"It's over now" Kyora said

Kuresento Kage Rozu narrowed her eyes sadly "In the end she really wasn't ready for it"

"The moment we draw out our blades she dies and we vanish along with her" Kyora said "And if we hold them in any longer we will be sucked into the abyss of this world for all eternity and Sakura's soul will be lost forever; I'd rather give her death than that"

Her zampakuto nodded in agreement as she clutched harder onto her scythe's handle

"Get ready" Kyora said about to pull out when suddenly a huge bright light blinded them for a moment and they back away from Sakura letting go of their scythe's.

The world erupted like there was an earthquake happening; a beam of blue light shot up and a silhouette appeared from the blue crystal snow like flames.

"Is that?" Kyora asked opening her eyes

The two of them saw Sakura appear before them; two scythes in her hands and her wounds healing then she stared at the two of them raising the two scythes; her eyes were now yellow with black in them

She said something "Kage Ga Kisu (Shadow Kiss)" and the two scythes came together; to form one again.

Then just as quickly as it started the phenomenon passed; Sakura's spiritual pressure began to fade back and her eyes went back to emerald green as well. The skies began to clear again and the light vanished slowly.

Sakura stood there now; her scythe in her hand staring up at the sky; she looked at her weapon before turning back to her hollow and zampakuto who looked a little shocked before smiling at her.

Raising her scythe she pointed it at them but Kyora and Kuresento Kage Rozu smiled at her before Kyora started clapping slowly and Kuresento Kage Rozu joined in.

Sakura looked at them with a glare "Congratulations Sakura" Kyora said "You've passed"

"What?" Sakura asked showing a glimmer of suspicion; she didn't recall getting the dark crystal

The two girls seemed to have read her mind and pointed to her scythe; there was something different about it now; the feeling she had.

"We said that you had to take the dark crystal but you had to figure out how to take it without actually taking it from the pillar" her zampakuto explained; at the end of Sakura's scythe there hung a chain with a violet coloured crystal. Sakura's eyes widened.

"The entire point of this was to help you summon your bankai and hollowfication" Kuresento Kage Rozu said

"Also" Kyora stepped in "We needed you to let go of your fear" she came up to Sakura "Sakura; you can't continue on like this; shutting yourself out will only weaken you instead of make you stronger"

Sakura scoffed softly "That's ridiculous"

Kyora smirked "Oh yeah; then what was going through your head when you used that attack? I'm guessing a certain orange haired soul reaper?"

Sakura's eyes snapped open and she blushed lightly "I-I don't know what you're talking about?"

Kyora's tone turned serious "I'm talking about when you unleashed that attack"

Sakura was taken aback by her tone "We decided on this test because we knew your reaction towards it; we knew you would doubt yourself because the odds were stacked against you; we're telling you to take the risk from now on. When you had our scythes in your body; the thought of Ichigo; that you might not see him again caused you to summon up that power your Kage ga Kisu; it gave you the will to live on despite the odds because you recall how he fought"

Sakura looked at Kyora in awe "No more masking yourself behind a stoic face; it's time to break down this walls granted it will take time but you will be surprised at the results you can get for letting people in; they do much more than soften your heart"

There was a small chuckle; Sakura looked up at them with a smile on her face "Thank you both for everything"

Kyora smirked "You're welcome; now come on it's not over yet; time to go back alright?"

Sakura nodded and closed her eyes

* * *

When she opened her eyes she was looking up at the sky; her body felt a little numb; her head was throbbing like there was someone inside her head with a jackhammer. Then there were shadows around her when her vision cleared; she saw Ichigo's slightly worried face looking down at her.

"Sakura" he said calling her "Are you alright"

Sakura looked around before she sat up and looked at her body seeing no wounds or injuries. She looked up at the other visored's.

"How do you feel?" Ichigo asked cautiously crouching down beside her

Sakura looked over at him and smiled suddenly "Pretty good; what about you?"

Taken back slightly for a moment Ichigo returned the smile "A lot better than you are"

Shinji clapped his hands twice "Well; well looks like things worked out after all" he said

Sakura nodded "Yeah" she put a hand on her face and felt something on her head; it was rather hard; taking it off she stared down at it and gasped slightly. There it was her hollow mask. The mask was white and shaped her face except her mouth that showed; there were dark purple strips under the eyes of the mask right down looking like claw marks and red around the eyes that was spread out slightly.

"Now we can official say welcome" Shinji said with a smile on his face

* * *

**Alright now the real fun begins; I know that I should've put this into two parts but now I get to leave you with the thought of what's going to happen now.**

**Please Review **


	13. Chapter 13

**HELLO; I know it's been a while but I'm finally updating; I may have made a few mistakes here and there but please forgive me. **

**Anyway read and Enjoy please**

* * *

Toshiro and Rangiku were in the living room with Orihime who had just arrived at home after her neighbour said that Rangiku and Toshiro were carrying something strange into the apartment. The head captain appeared in the channel before them. There was a screen like object in the living room that allowed them to connect with the soul society; it had long tentacle like substances keeping it on the wall.

"A recent development made it imperative that we establish this emergency channel immediately; we have discovered Sosuke Aizen's true objective" the head captain explained

Rangiku; Orihime and Toshiro looked shocked at the news "So you found out what Aizen's after?" Toshiro asked

The head captain nodded "We have indeed; as you may know Sosuke Aizen disappeared months ago and since then we have launched an investigation we've had teams scouring the squad five captains room where Aizen lived; the underground assembly hall of central forty six and even the archive where Captain Uikitake discovered something" he said

"The information captain Aizen had been looking at what was it?" Toshiro asked

"The Oken" the captain replied

Toshiro and Rangiku gasped in shock "What's that?" Orihime asked

"The royal key" Rangiku explained turning to her "You may not have known but the soul society has a royal family; we do have a king but he had placed central forty six in charge of governing the soul society and the royal family chose never to get involved. None of us has seen the royal family in person"

"Indeed" The head captain said "Our king is called the Soul King; not only is he revered is he is also a symbolic symbol within the soul society; the royal palace is located in a completely separate dimension and is guarded by its own private force known as the royal guard and the Oken is the key that opens the gate to the dimension where the royal palace is"

Orihime came to a shocking conclusion "If that's true and Aizen's after the key that means he wasn't to…"

"Murder the king" the head captain finished for her "I'm afraid we must assume that is his motive; however I believe there is a more immediate threat"

"Could there have been any information in the book Aizen was looking at that would lead him to the location of the Oken?" Toshiro asked

"Not exactly; the location of the Oken is passed down to the head captain of the thirteenth court guard squad to the next; there has never been a written record of its whereabouts. The document Aizen was looking at dealt not with the location but the creation of the Oken; he now possesses the knowledge with which to create the royal key" he said

* * *

"Faster Ichigo; again" Hiyori ordered.

While Sakura trained with Kensei who might she add was ruthless; she trained in the mornings and Ichigo trained in the afternoons and now it was the afternoon and Ichigo's turn to train and then Sakura was going to train later on after. Everyone else stayed around to watch how it was going to play out.

"Shut up" Ichigo said "I know what to do"

Ichigo hollowfied again; dragging his hand around his face he hollowfied; Hiyori came at him again already with her mask on the side of her face; she kicked Ichigo but he blocked it with his hand.

"That hurt" he said

"You're first move after you put on your mask is too slow" Hiyori said "If the fight was decided by the first blow you'd be done for" she kicked Ichigo back and his mask broke again sending him flying back.

"His retention time is increasing" Hachigen said

"Well it's not a simple thing" Shinji countered

"Four seconds" Kensei observed

"Only?" Shinji asked

"Hey how come you guys are making the carrot top kid go through all of this?" Mashiro asked

"It's practice so that he can maintain his hollow form for long periods of time you did it to" Kensei said

Mashiro shook her head "Oh no I didn't"

"What you liar" Kensei said

"No it's true" Shinji defended "Mashiro was able to maintain her hollowfication for fifteen hours already so she was the only one who didn't go through the training"

"Kensei you big grouch; you're such a jerk" Mashiro stuck her tongue out at him

"Hey shut up!"

"She's not wrong" Sakura said sitting beside her calmly with her arms crossed over her chest; she held out one hand and Mashiro slapped it in triumph.

"Hey watch it pixie; or I'm gonna make training a living hell for you" Kensei said

Sakura scoffed in response; after the encounter with her hollow and zampakuto she's been able to show a bit more emotion.

"You already make it a living hell" she said

"Oh yea-

Hachigen tried to make peace "Now; now" but his face quickly changed to serious

"What's the matter?" Shinji asked

"There's a problem" he said turning his head to the side "Someone just slipped through my force field and entered the building"

Everyone looked shocked "A soul reaper?" Love asked

"No" Hachigen said "Soul reapers can't get through this force field"

"Is it a visored like us?" Kensei asked standing up

"I'm not sure strange thing is they didn't get in by destroying the barrier they just slipped through it a visored wouldn't be able to do that not at all" Hachigen said

"You're right" Kensei agreed "Then what in the hell is it?"

Sakura smirked and stood up running over to the stairs while the others stood back and waited; she stood there and felt the person coming.

Orihime came walking down the stairs and saw all the visored's staring at her

"A human" Kensei said in disbelief

Orihime looked puzzled and waved at them casually "Hi there"

"Orihime" Sakura called looking up at the red haired girl

Gasping Orihime ran down to Sakura "Sakura" she greeted "Oh my gosh you're really here"

"About time you got here" Sakura said

"You knew I was coming?" she asked

Sakura scoffed "Of course" she said taking Orihime's hand; there was an explosion beside them and the two girls looked and saw Ichigo lying on the ground.

"Ichigo it's you" Orihime said excitedly

"Orihime" Ichigo looked over at the two girls

* * *

After settling things down and taking a break from training; Ichigo; Sakura and Orihime sat down in private so that Orihime could explain the details about why she was sent here; she explained to them about the royal key and the winter battle.

"I see" Ichigo said "So that's what's going on"

"You don't seem very surprised" Orihime told them

"Oh we are" Sakura said calmly but her face in a slight frown "Just don't know how to react to this even I couldn't predict something like this."

"I don't think that it's sunken in yet" Ichigo said his face showing that he was thinking about it; he looked over at Orihime and stood up "Wipe that worried look off your face Orihime; it'll be ok. I'll stop Aizen I promise"

Orihime stared at him in awe; Ichigo looked at his hand "I know I can still get stronger; I can really feel it now" he turned to them "I appreciate you giving me the heads up" Ichigo said walking off

Sakura put a hand on Orihime's shoulder "Ichigo can't really process what you just told us because he's so busy training" she sighed rubbing the back of her head slightly "It doesn't matter what Aizen is planning Ichigo knows exactly what to do; he's not afraid"

"Yes; he really is getting stronger" she agreed "And it doesn't feel heavy or scary like before but it also doesn't feel nice; it's such a strange feeling"

Sakura looked at Orihime and saw that she was getting worried again; Orihime looked up at her "Something the matter?"

Shaking her head Sakura stood up "Nothing; really; do you want to hang out for a little while longer?"

"Yes please" Orihime said standing up; she looked at Sakura "Are you gonna get stronger to?"

"I hope so" Sakura replied

* * *

After a few hours of watching Ichigo train his ass off well more like get it kicked by Hiyori; Orihime decided that it was time for her to head off.

"Hold on a minute" someone called; Sakura looked and saw Kensei walking up to them

"Hachi wants to talk to her" Kensei said

"Who's Hachi?" Orihime asked

Sakura brought Orihime to Hachi; Orihime couldn't help but stare at the size of this man he was huge!

"Hachi is just a nickname my real name is Hachigen; nice to meet you"

"It's nice to meet you to" Orihime said holding onto Sakura's arm

Hachigen sat down making the girls jump a little into the air and land but down into a sitting position "What did you want to see her about?" Sakura asked

"Actually it's the both of you" Hachigen said reaching out his hand and placing it on Orihime's head; he turned her head to the side a little too far.

"Just as I thought; these hairpins are the real form of your power" he said "They're like a zampakuto this is truly rare" He looked at Orihime's pins "But this one is chipped"

"Yes; but I'm afraid I can't fix it because a part of it was shattered" Hachigen looked at Sakura

"Did you know about that?" Sakura shook her head slightly in response

"No if I did I would've fixed it for her" she told him

"What?" Orihime looked at Sakura confused; she thought she just heard her friend say that she could fix it. "Can you really fix it Sakura?"

"Of course" she said

"I wouldn't mind giving you a hand Sakura since I know that this might take a toll on you again"

Sakura nodded

"Oh goody thank you both so much!" Orihime said in glee but Hachigen was still holding onto her head

"Alright Hachi you can let go of her head now" Kensei sweat dropped

"I don't get it" Mashiro whined rolling around on the floor

"Will you stop yapping?" Kensei shouted

Sakura raised her hands and started to chant "Taiyo no kisu" a blue light started to engulf the hair pin on the ground and then Hachi created a force field around Sakura's

"You can stop now" he said

Sakura lowered her arms; she looked and saw that her powers were still working

"Oh wow Sakura our power really is the same" Orihime gushed slightly

Hachigen shook his head "No Orihime; she has a similar power to your but to be perfectly blunt there's also a difference; Sakura's powers work as though the incident has never occurred; while Orihime you reverses what happens in other words rejects it; unlike Sakura's Or yours doesn't affect you as much but with your kind of ability I think that it's possible for her to cheat death; plus she can make the field of her powers as large as she wish it to be while yours can only extend a certain amount am I right?"

Sakura averted her eyes as she thought about what he said about cheating death; it was true that cheating death was something she actually thought she had done when she fought the last time; Orihime looked as her hair pins petals started to form and Tsubaki appeared as the barrier was lifted down. Grabbing her small petal she rubbed it against her cheek which was a little too close for comfort for him.

"I'm so glad you're finally back I missed you so much" She smiled up at Hachi and Sakura "I can't thank you both enough for this"

"Orihime" Sakura said and placed a hand on her head taking a little by surprise considering that it was said Sakura was someone who didn't show any signs of affection to anyone; she looked up at Hachi "Could I talk to her for a moment?"

Hachigen nodded "Of course"

"What's wrong Sakura?" Orihime asked

Sakura had a serious look on her face though it wasn't something out of the ordinary "Orihime did you by any chance talk to Kisuke?"

Orihime gasped and nodded "How did you know?"

Sakura averted her eyes "I didn't" she lied

"Yes" Orihime said honestly "He told me to stay away from the battle…."

Orihime clenched her fists and smiled "Don't worry about it; I think that he's right probably-

"No" Sakura said "That's not what I was going to say!" she grabbed Orihime's shoulders taking her by surprise "You want to fight; I can feel it…you just have to get stronger. Don't give up or lose hope you hear me; I also think that you should have a talk with Rukia"

"Rukia; but why?" Orihime asked

Sakura looked at her before a small very small smile graced her lips before vanishing "Something tells me that the first step to your becoming stronger is by going to her by the way she's right outside"

Orihime stared at Sakura in shock but by looking into Sakura's eyes she couldn't say anything against her now.

* * *

Sakura and Orihime walked out of the building; it was late already dark. They saw Rukia standing there now.

"Oh Rukia you really are here" Orihime said and then freaked when she realised that they were exposing where Ichigo and all the other visored's were.

"Don't say anything" Rukia told Orihime "I don't need to know I came here and I felt a little bit of Ichigo and your spiritual pressure if you didn't say anything then I know you must know what you're doing" Rukia smiled at Sakura and handed her keys to her apartment

Sakura looked at Orihime and nodded "I'll see you soon alright?" Sakura said

They both nodded and left; Rukia turned around and smiled at Sakura

"Hey keep that idiot in line will you?"

Sakura nodded in reply "Of course"

* * *

Back in Hueco Mundo in Aizen's fortress Ulquiorra made his way to the infirmary where Yami was being treated. He saw his comrade having his arm sewed up. Reason it was only being sewed on now was because of the damage to his body that needed to be repaired fist before they could even have anything to sew his arm back onto.

"Ulquiorra what do you want?" Yami asked

"You've healed" he observed as the other arancar which was the nurse removed the bandage around his arm "It's a good thing I decided to bring your severed arm back just in case"

Yami growled "This took too long my arm felt like it was going to rot away; I would be nice if our bodies healed on their own" he said

"Stop complaining" Ulquiorra said as the nurse started cutting off the metal plates that were used to keep the arm in place "You're lucky to have an arm at all; if it were completely destroyed like Grimmjow's you would've been kicked out of the espada to"

When Grimmjow had returned back after his fight with Ichigo and Sakura; he had been let off by Sosuke but Tosin on the other hand had not been as kind and had cut off his arm and then destroyed it so there was nothing left of it.

"I guess you're right" Yami said

"I have completed the treatment" the nurse arancar said; Yami flexed his arm "How is it? Is the movement and the responsiveness the same as before?"

Yami suddenly punched the nurse into the wall killing her "Not good enough" he said "If it was in its usual condition I would've split her right in half" Yami said

"Idiot"

"Nevertheless I know it will get better sooner or later and when it does I'll get my revenge on that soul reaper"

Sosuke Aizen sat in his room watching the scene of the battle between Yami and Ichigo; he focused on Orihime and Sakura when they used their healing ability to fix Chads arm and return the souls back into the humans.

"You have interesting abilities" he observed "Young ladies"

Ulquiorra entered the room "You called my lord"

"Ulquiorra; I have a mission for you"

* * *

Sakura walked up to the warehouse where everyone was most likely sleeping it was three in the morning now and she had just come out of an intense training session; she hadn't told Ichigo any of this but while doing her day training at night for a few hours she would sneak off when they were sleeping to come to Urahara's to train. This had been going on now for nearly a month and it was really exhausting; on top of learning how to keep her mask on she had been training with Kisuke to use her bankai powers.

The only one who actually knew about it was Shinji who had recommended her going to Kisuke to talk with him about it. After that she somehow ended up being trained by him.

_Sakura looked up at Kisuke's store and sighed heavily and distress; this was just wonderful; Shinji had told her to go there if she wanted to know more about her powers. Sakura opened the shops door; it was twelve in the morning who would be up at this time of night? _

_She looked around and found the lights were on; Sakura saw Kisuke walking in "Oh hello Sakura" he waved smiling at her "About time you came" _

_Sakura kept her expression passive as ever "Hello Urahara; I'm sorry for the late night intrusion like this but Shinji sent me" _

_Kisuke waved his fan around in front of his face carelessly "Don't worry I was the one who told him to send you here; I never really had the chance to talk to you before you took off from my shop" _

_Sakura sighed "I'm sorry about that" _

"_No worries" he said smiling "Now I think you wanted to discuss something with me?" _

_Sakura nodded as he showed her into a room to sit down where he had Tessa warm some tea for them. _

"_Now I think it's fair to say this has something to do about your bankai?" _

_Sakura's eyes widened for a moment before she nodded "Yes" _

"_Well I think I can help you" he said in a cheery tone_

Later that night after everyone was asleep Sakura still lied awake; she sat on the roof of the warehouse and looked up at the starry sky. She wasn't able to get any sleep tonight no matter how tired she was and it was a wonder why Kensei had to give her a wakeup call. She had known about Orihime going to talk to Kisuke because he had told her that Orihime had come over to him during the day and when Sakura had asked what they talked about he told her that he warned Orihime to stay away from the battle field. When she asked him why though all he said was that she wouldn't be able to handle it but Sakura had a feeling that there was something more than that.

'I feel it now' she thought sadly 'It feels like something terrible is about to happen soon' Sakura sighed sadly and closed her eyes and just when they were getting into the swing of their training sessions. She hoped that the school wouldn't try and contact any guardians of hers; she did actually still have a parental figure but not her legal guardian and no one she wanted anything to do with. Anyone connected to Kyo she wanted nothing more to do with them.

"Hey what are you doing out here?" Sakura's eyes snapped open and saw Ichigo standing over her with a strange look on his face.

"What's the matter?" he asked looking at her

"Oh Ichigo" Sakura sighed a little and sat up "What are you doing awake; you should be resting for tomorrow's training" she said

Ichigo shook his head "I tried but I couldn't get to sleep and I could say the same thing to you"

"Why?" Sakura asked

Ichigo sat down beside her "Something's troubling you right?" he asked ignoring her question

Sakura averted her eyes "It's nothing" she responded

"So what's the matter Sakura?" he insisted again

Sakura shrugged "I honestly don't know what you mean"

Ichigo scoffed at her stubbornness "You think I haven't noticed that you've been out of it lately not to mention you're always tired"

Sakura felt her heart thump in her chest; how did he know she was tired; she didn't think she showed any sign of being tired despite that she was. She wondered if she was becoming that readable.

"I'm fine" she said again lifting her knees up to her chest "I couldn't get to sleep tonight"

Ichigo didn't look convinced by her lie no matter how hard she tried to hide it behind a monotone "What about you?" Sakura asked him

"What do you mean?" he asked

"Why can't you go to sleep?"

Ichigo shrugged and Sakura rolled her eyes at him "Is it the training?" she asked seeing his face she could tell she hit the mark.

"Training to keep my mask on is taking a while" he sighed running a hand through his hair "Guess I needed to come out and clear my head"

Sakura gave a humorous smile "When you look at it all we've been doing for the past month is train"

Ichigo nodded; the two of them looked up at the sky "I suppose that this isn't what you expected to be doing when you came to this town huh?"

Shaking her head sighed again "Not really" she intertwined her hands together and looked up and smiled; she had been smiling a little more and it wasn't that it was a bad thing at all.

"Sakura I wanted to ask you something" Ichigo started; she looked at him

"Why would you stay here?" he asked "I mean when you look at it; you don't need to get involved with any of this?"

"Well" she started; staring down for a moment; Ichigo looked at her strangely; was there a hint of blush on her face?

"I did this because….I owe you"

He was taken back; she had said that to him before "You say that but aren't you going a bit too far with this?"

She shook her head keeping her head down "No; I'm doing this because it's for…this is hard for me to say…"

Ichigo smiled looking at her; just hearing her voice she actually sounded a tad shy to come out and say what she wanted to say "Thank you Sakura-

He stopped when he felt something soft on his cheek; a few seconds later Sakura pulled away and stood up.

"Thank you Ichigo" she whispered standing up and turning around. Ichigo felt his face was red_. _

'What was that about?' he thought little did he know that she was thinking the same thing as she walked away.

'Why did I do that?' she thought softly to herself

* * *

It's been almost a month now and things have been nothing but hard training for Ichigo; trying to get him to handle his mask. Sakura had stayed there and trained but only with her normal soul reaper powers; saying she wanted to wait for Ichigo to get a handle on his mask before Sakura would show them her mask or even her bankai heck she hasn't even revealed her swords release form yet.

Hiyori smacked Ichigo to the ground for what seemed like the fifth time today.

"Why don't you put up a fight you stupid idiot?" Hiyori asked jumping into the air "Do you have any idea how many times I could've killed you already?" she looked at Ichigo embedded against one of the large boulders "I get it you thought soul reapers had extra lives or something well they don't"

"Shut up" he glared

Kensei started beating the back of a pan with a spoon and called for everyone "Chow time get your butts over here on the double the last one in line has to do the dishes you hear me?"

* * *

In the end the one who had to do the dishes was Ichigo but Sakura had helped him and wouldn't take no for an answer. Ichigo washed while Sakura dried off; for the past couple of days now though she's been really quiet for a while.

"So how's Ichigo training going Hiyori?" Shinji asked

"Weren't you watching; it's not going anywhere the idiots still only up to a little over ten seconds" she said bluntly in front of him "That dumbass is a joke; real dog meat"

Shinji turned to Kensei "What about Sakura's training Kensei?"

He scoffed "She's up to two minutes but her fighting styles really rusty"

Sakura threw the plate she had in her hand at Kensei's head and it nearly hit him when he ducked on time.

"Hey" he hissed at her

"It slipped" she replied bluntly

Ichigo scrubbed the dishes furiously

"Maybe he doesn't have what it takes" Lisa said "Maybe he should just give up"

"Just shut the hell up you little pervert you're not even involved in my training so I would appreciate it if you kept your mouth shut!'

"I'm already involved moron; I leant you my dirty magazine to get your mind off training the other day" she said nonchaluantly

"You didn't lend me anything!" Ichigo snapped "Why the hell would I want to borrow that crap anyway?"

"It's totally cool" Love said "I borrow it myself"

Ichigo blushed "Well I'm not like you am I"

"Personally I like to look at them twice a day to clear my mind" Lisa said

"Yeah I know good for you but I'm not like either of you those pictures are distracting" Ichigo said

"He's not wrong" Sakura sighed drying up the dishes

"But I am not a pervert; I'm just curious" Lisa defended

"That's the definition of a pervert" Kensei said

"That doesn't stop you from constantly looking at my magazines" she shot back

Ichigo turned his attention back to Sakura; thinking back about what happened last night with them and he felt a small blush creep up to his cheeks. It may have just been a peck on the cheek but that level of affection from Sakura was something you wouldn't expect and he didn't know why he felt like his heart beat faster every time he thought about it.

Sakura finished drying up all of the dishes and Ichigo was getting ready to go back to training again.

"Don't worry Ichigo it might just take a while for you to get the hang of it" Sakura said reassuringly

Ichigo smiled "Thanks"

Sakura waved as Ichigo went off to continue his training with Hiyori; Sakura suddenly tensed.

She started to feel several spiritual pressures; arancars all of them and they were coming to the world of the living; she didn't understand how she felt it so clearly but she did; Sakura looked around and all the other visored's; they all appeared rather distracted so this was her chance. Sakura walked off to the stairs and out of the ware house when she was sure no one was watching.

'Sorry about this guys' she thought

**Hope you liked it don't forget to review **


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey everyone; I thanks for the reviews and I want to say that I plan on adding a few more cross over stories with Sakura soon and I'm going to be re-editing my other story Welcome to my life and perhaps the others that I took off so please look forward to that. **

**Now here's the next chapter enjoy **

* * *

For the past month now it wasn't just Ichigo that honed his skills; Chad was being trained by Renji and Kisuke and Orihime and Rukia had gotten permission to train in the soul society together. Meanwhile the other soul reapers sent to the world of the living being Toshiro; Rangiku; Yumichika and Ikkaku were all gathered together in the forest; they were all having a chat with their zampakuto however in a matter of a few moments Yumichika had started assaulting his sword and hitting it over a rock trying to break it.

Rangiku threw him with a rock to stop him "What is wrong with you Yumichika?"

"My Fuji Kujaku is totally pissing me off!" he said frowning "He's such an obnoxious slob and he's bossy and thinks that he's the best looking guy in the world; I hate him; I hate him; I hate him! I can never fight next to him again; in fact you couldn't pay me to fight with him if he was the last sword on earth!"

"What are you talking about?" Rangiku asked cocking her eyebrow "He's exactly like you. Now my Haniko is a stupid; needy; selfish; temperamental; lazy and moody slob which when you boil it down to basics makes her to total opposite of me"

"Actually I think that fits you to a T; I bet you're the kind of person who whenever she looks at a picture of herself says oh look at me I'm so fat" Yumichika replied in a matter of fact tone

Rangiku became enraged at this "What did you say-

"Hey!" Sakura called appearing out of the blue beside the fighting pair

Toshiro and Ikkaku who were talking peacefully with their swords stopped to see what all the noise was about and was surprised to see Sakura there in her soul reaper form.

"Well if it isn't Sakura" Yumichika observed "To what do we owe this delight?"

Sakura looked at all of them confusingly "What are all of you doing here?"

"Just a bit of training" Rangiku replied and pointed to her "What are you doing here and where's Ichigo?" Rangiku then noticed her soul reaper outfit

"Wow; Sakura" Rangiku admired

"Look there's not time to explain but you're all in danger" Sakura said not really wanting any comments on her outfit.

This got all of their attention

"What do you mean?" Yumichika asked

Sakura pointed up the clear blue sky "They're coming!"

"What?" Toshiro asked alarmed

"The arancars" she said putting her hand down but still looking at the sky "They're going to appear here any time now so I suggest you get ready"

"How do you know that?" Ikkaku asked "It's not possible to determine when-

Sakura glared at him "This isn't the time to be asking questions either get out of here or hurry up and transform-

Suddenly the sky cracked open and four arancars appeared before it; they saw Grimmjow and Yami and two other arancars as well. One looked like a boy; he had black hair and purple eyes with a diamond shape tattoo on the one side of his eye then there was another boy with yellow hair and purple eyes but he looked really out of it and Sakura could feel however that he was strong.

"Oh no" Sakura stared

"They're early" Toshiro said in shock

"She was right" Rangiku said looking just as shocked as her comrades

Grasping her hilt; Sakura saw them but she couldn't make out what they were saying suddenly Grimmjow started to speed off in the other direction; Sakura's eyes widened she knew that he was going after Ichigo. Then Yami was there to and his arm was intact again.

'Well this just keeps getting better and better' she thought sarcastically

Aside from them showing up early it felt like there was a reason this was happening another problem was that both Ichigo and Sakura were still in the middle of training and she had a feeling that they may figure out sooner or later that she was missing it wasn't like this kind of spiritual pressure could be hidden from them; yup she knew that this had to be done quick or she was going to have a lot of explaining to do; she wanted to tell Ichigo but when she looked at it and compared to how long they could hold their masks and control their hollowfication she believed it was better if she took care of it.

Sakura knew that it was an impulsive decision however there was something that just urged her to go despite her better judgment telling her she wasn't ready but she had a feeling that if she didn't then Ichigo might go and that thought worried her.

'Oh god what's happening to me?' she thought frowning

Sakura shifted her gaze to the other two arancars they were new but also powerful. Sakura had a feeling that this wasn't going to play out well.

Yami looked down at all the soul reapers and smirked "The one I wanna kill is down there" he said

"Oh would that be the one who cut off your arm or the one that kicked you butt?" the dark haired arancar asked now also the new number six.

"Hurry up" Sakura said to them they all took their soul candy's and swallowed it turning themselves into soul reapers. Yami was heading right for them but Toshiro blocked him off.

Sakura looked over at them "I have to stop Grimmjow" she said "Can you guys handle them?"

"Of course" Yumichika scoffed "However I don't think you should go after that espada on your own"

Sakura looked over at him "I'll be fine" she flash stepped away before anyone could protest

"I am squad ten captains Toshiro Hitsugaya" Toshiro introduced himself to the espada he was blocking

"What a coincidence I am also a ten arancar ten better known as Yami"

"Then that means you're an espada" Toshiro said

Yumichika and Ikkaku were facing off against another arancar; the one with the dark hair

"I take it you're an espada to" Yumichika said

"That's right my name is Luppi; I'm ranked number six" the dark haired arancar said

The other one however didn't seem to be noticing Rangiku though; he was literally just staring off into space and watching the birds. Rangiku looked at him strangely

"Can I cut that one?"

* * *

While that was happening everyone else had indeed sensed the spiritual pressure around the area and Ichigo was the first to want to speed off but he was being held back by Love and Kensei. It seems that they hadn't noticed Sakura was gone yet. However Mashiro had gone looking for her around the large area but she couldn't find her but she didn't return herself to tell them that yet.

"Let go of me!" Ichigo struggled in their chocker hold

"No you're not ready yet!" Kensei said frowning deeper than usual

"This is exactly why you're friends from the soul society are stationed here in the world of the living" Love said "So why don't you just let them handle it?"

"Well this just happens to be exactly what I've been training for; look this is now or never for me!"

Suddenly Mashiro appeared in front of them "This is bad; I searched and I couldn't find Sakura anywhere!"

Everyone looked shocked "What do you mean?" Kensei asked "She has to be around here somewhere or else Hachi would've sensed her leave the building"

Hachigen didn't look very convinced "Actually Sakura's power isn't as similar to mine as I thought at first; it seems she is able to slip past my barriers without being detected"

Now everyone was shocked; Ichigo started to recall what Sakura had told him; about how she was able to sense when a hollow was going to arrive before they even got there….then it hit him like a ton of bricks as he came a conclusion.

"Shit" he cursed; she must've gone to fight them on her own "Let go of me now! This is serious Sakura's in trouble"

"What do you mean?" Love asked

"Oh that's right" Hachigen said "Sakura is able to sense when a hollow is going to appear before it even arrives; she has some kind of foresight I believe so she must have snuck out to go and fight the arancars on her own"

"Crap" Kensei cursed "Is she crazy? She's not ready for this either" he asked still holding onto Ichigo

Shinji walked up to them and gripped Kensei's top "Just let him go" he sighed

Kensei obeyed him and released Ichigo who ran as fast as he could up the stairs; they all watched him leave.

"Are you crazy? We're letting him go as well?" Kensei asked Shinji but he didn't say anything and just started walking off in the other direction.

* * *

The soul society had just been informed of the arancars sudden appearance and were getting ready to send Rukia back to the world of the living but Orihime had to wait because she didn't have a hell butterfly and would only be able to return then a little later; Rukia decided she was going to go see Urahara about the situation and get Renji while she was at it. Meanwhile Chad had wanted to go to fight however Kisuke had ordered them not to. So they wouldn't be getting involved in this battle which cut down the forces.

Grimmjow stood in mid-air starring ahead of him; he looked at Sakura she was watching him intently. Sakura glared right back at him; her arms folded over her chest. Sakura was sensing spiritual pressures all over now and she knew that the fighting had begun. There was however a slight draw back; Sakura could feel that they were holding back.

"Hey you're that chick from before; carrot tops girlfriend right? So where is he?" Grimmjow asked

Sakura placed a hand on her hilt "He's a little busy" she said "I think he found out I snuck off without him" she averted her eyes to the side "Why are you here Grimmjow?"

He smirked at her "Isn't it obvious; I'm here to kill that carrot top!"

"Pissed off that for punishment you lost your arm and have nothing to show for it?" she mocked putting two and two together.

Grimmjow glared at her "Shut up; I only need one to kill him"

Sakura drew her sword with a deadly look in her eyes "Oh yeah; how about we see if the same will work on me?"

Grimmjow smirked "Hate to cut that little body up but if that's how it has to be"

Sakura and Grimmjow's swords clashed together in an instant; the sparks from their swords flew as they fought. Sakura kept her stoic expression on her face as she fought; despite Grimmjow only having one arm he was still very strong but after training for so long Sakura herself had gotten stronger. He attacked her with strong force and then he struck another blow grazing her arm before she backed away from him.

"So you can fight" Grimmjow smirked as he raised his sword and swung it at Sakura who was defending now; she was calm but holding her ground with his force of power wasn't easy that was for sure; he managed to get in another hit on her but only a graze line at her waist. Sakura backed away from him and held out her sword.

"Now hunt Kuresento Kage Rozu"

Her scythe appeared after she uttered those words with a calm tone as her spiritual energy surrounded her form.

Grimmjow's smirked seemed to widen "So I take it that's your zampakuto release form; hate to break it to you pinkie but it won't be enough"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him and flash stepped over to him quickly before clashing with Grimmjow; her moves were swifter.

Their weapons clashed together in the air as Grimmjow aimed Cero's at Sakura's form that was zipping through the sky avoiding them. Grimmjow launched himself at Sakura when she used her sun kiss shield to block him; that caught him a little off guard and she took the chance to strike that was until he managed to move out of the way at the last second.

"You're actually pretty good" Grimmjow smirked "Though I'd rather peg you for a pixie than a soul reaper"

Sakura glared at him; clutching her scythe in her hands she charged at him their blades clashing again; Sakura hovering over him; Grimmjow with a smirk on his face. He leaned into her face.

"Hmm; gotta say not bad at all Pixie"

Sakura clicked her tongue at him; all men really were the same be it soul reaper; human or arancar. They were all perverts.

"Oh you think?" Sakura asked

Grimmjow didn't seem fazed by Sakura's threatening cold tone "Yeah; I think I'm starting to like you pixie"

It was Sakura's turn to smirk as her scythe began to glow

'This is the first time I've tried this attack an actual fight with an enemy' she thought 'I don't have a choice' she concluded

The blade began to glow magenta as Sakura tried to keep a hold of her spirit energy; Grimmjow moved away from her as she powered her attack.

"Is that a fact….." Sakura looked up at him "Wish I could say the same!"

She threw her arm out with her scythe at Grimmjow and black beams flew at him; he faced off holding his sword up but it seems he was having trouble with it until he moved away at the last minute.

Sakura bit her bottom lip slightly; she had hoped that it would take him down but looks like she was wrong in that interpretation.

'My Tenshi Hanata barely even hurt him' she thought disappointed; she guessed that it was because he was so strong it wouldn't leave a phantom graze on him if his spiritual pressure was higher than hers in her current state.

'It's not over though' she reminded herself that she still had a lot of tricks up her sleeve but something happened before they were able to start clashing again.

A flash of black and orange flew past Grimmjow and stopped in front of Sakura; her eyes widened she couldn't predict him getting here this fast!

"Ichigo" she murmured under her breath her eyes wide "What-

"I can't believe you would actually think I was going to let you come here on your own"

Sakura averted her eyes from his back feeling slightly ashamed for not telling him.

"Sakura" Ichigo called "Leave this guy to me"

"But Ichigo-

"Sakura" he interrupted her "Please let me deal with this guy while you handle your wounds"

"I haven't been injured that bad Ichigo" Sakura insisted "I can still fight and besides you-

"Just leave this to me" he repeated his voice filled with confidence but that didn't sooth the aching feeling of worry within Sakura's stomach

"And also promise you won't interfere no matter what" Ichigo said

Turning around he looked Sakura in the eye and she nodded knowing that there really wasn't any other way for her to stop him. She put away her sword and backed off vanishing from the sky away from the two worriers knowing that things were about to get a little more deadly.

"I've been waiting for you; soul reaper" Grimmjow smirked

"And I've been waiting for you" reaching for his sword Ichigo's bandages unwrapped around his sword. Sakura backed up a little from them a little bit sensing that their power was about to rise.

"It's taken me some time but now I'm ready to show you what I've learned since then" Ichigo said he drew his sword in front of him and activated his bankai

"Maybe you forgot" Grimmjow started not very impressed about Ichigo's display "Your bankai couldn't stop me the first time we met" he said

"Well maybe you've forgotten it was my bankai attack that originally gave you that scar" Ichigo stated "I've got one question what happened to your arm?"

"I got rid of it because I'm only going to need one arm to kill you" Grimmjow smirked

"Is that right" Ichigo held out his sword "Then I guess I don't need to hold anything back"

The two opponents spiritual pressures began to grown and it became visible around them lighting them up.

Sakura stared up at the sky where Ichigo and Grimmjow were and then panicked slightly when she saw Ichigo about to hollowfy; she guessed he was thinking he would be able to defeat Grimmjow in about eleven seconds. His bankai started to surround him with a black flame; Grimmjow watched as a hollowfied Ichigo came out of them; his eyes went wide slightly. It was supposed he hasn't heard of visored's yet.

"What the hell was that?" he asked in shock

"Sorry I don't have time to explain it to you" Ichigo replied before flash stepping and attacking Grimmjow just as he drew out his sword to block him

"Getsuga tenshou" there was a large flame of black and red engulfing both the hollow and visored'

Looking over at Grimmjow as he emerged he did not look too good after taking that hit; he was bleeding and panting heavily; it seems that Ichigo had given him a direct hit and at that range it was a wonder he wasn't dead. While Ichigo just stood there calmly put Sakura in a slightly frantic mood seeing as he only had a few seconds before he changed back.

"This power of yours it's not the power of a soul reaper….damn you it's only been a month what the hell did you do to yourself!?" Grimmjow shouted the last part

Ichigo swung his sword again emitting the dark flames making Grimmjow block it with his sword but sending him back.

"I told you" Ichigo said appearing from behind him "I don't have time to explain"

Grimmjow started falling from the sky with Ichigo coming right at him again suddenly he threw a Cero and Ichigo making him draw back and cut it right down the middle. They were attacking each other again and from what could be seen Grimmjow was being over powered however just as Ichigo was about to make his final attack his mask broke into pieces.

Grimmjow smiled evilly "Your lucks run out soul reaper" he said attacking Ichigo and sending him down to earth.

Sakura could feel that he was out of power now; he was about to kill Ichigo with his own final blow now. Ichigo was sent flying through the streets in a world of pain with Grimmjow landing right after him looking unusually calm as Ichigo lied down on the ground panting heavily. He tried to bring the mask back but it was a failure since he was almost out of spiritual pressure once again.

Coming at Ichigo; he launched him into the buildings with one kick

"Well it seems you have a problem" he laughed "Once that mask is broken you can't bring it back; wait you're not gonna try again that's crazy. It seems I was wrong but you've either taken too much damage or you've spend all of your spiritual energy maybe you have a limit as to how many times you can use it; that doesn't matter that mask isn't here now is it?"

Appearing near Ichigo again he stabbed him in his arm that was holding his sword. Ichigo stared in shock. Raising his hand again Grimmjow was about to use his Cero at such close range it was enough to take off his head but then suddenly his hand became sheathed with ice leaving both Ichigo and Grimmjow shocked.

Turning back Rukia stood with her zampakuto in its released form "Tsugi no mai" she said and white ribbons appeared from where she placed the blade of her sword on the ground "Hakuren"

A giant sheet of white started coming towards Grimmjow and encased him within it; freezing his entire body in ice.

"Ichigo" Rukia said in alarm coming over to him; she started to attempt to tuck the sword out

"That was an incredible move when did you-

He was cut short when Rukia pulled at it "Don't speak" she ordered "This is tricky enough as it is"

She started to pull harder "It's really stuck the power that you're using certainly seems ridiculous too" Rukia said

Ichigo averted his eyes "You're in bad shape" Rukia commented

"Just shut your mouth"

Suddenly the ice broke and a hand shot out from it grabbing Rukia's head

"Don't underestimate me soul reaper" Grimmjow said "Did you think that you could kill me by freezing me under a thin sheet of ice?!"

A red light started to shine around Rukia's head and it was anyone's guess that it was Grimmjow's Cero attack; Rukia wasn't able to move and Ichigo still had the sword stuck in his wrist; Rukia wasn't able to move and Ichigo still had the sword stuck in his wrist; before the cero was fired however another blast came out of nowhere and hit Grimmjow's hand making him retract and freeing Rukia.

"What was that?" Ichigo asked

Grimmjow stared at his hand in shock as it steamed up still; turning around he saw Shinji standing on one of the roofs of the houses.

" glad I didn't let this go on too far" Shinji said holding his sword over his shoulder "I wish that I didn't have to interfere like this though" he sighed rubbing the back of his head

Grimmjow broke the ice around him and drew his sword out of Ichigo's wrist so fast he barely had time to process the pain of having it yanked out of him like that.

"I'm gonna rip you to shreds" Grimmjow shouted swinging his sword at Shinji

There was a huge blast and out of the smoke appeared the arancar with his sword plunged in the roof of a house. Looking up Shinji frowned at him.

"Hey don't you know that if you damage other people's property like this because I dodge your attacks then I'm not gonna be able to" he said

Grimmjow didn't say anything but instead launched himself at Shinji again and swung his sword at her but he managed to doge it again but going further into the air.

"Can't move any better than that?" Grimmjow mocked coming over to her again

"Shinji" Ichigo yelled

"He's a real hot head huh?" he asked raising his hand over his face

Ichigo tensed as Shinji drew a hand over his face; the mask started to form and then appear on his face. Grimmjow looked shocked as he continued to come towards him; he blocked him with her sword.

"Ichigo is he?" Rukia asked looking up at the two of them fighting referring to Shinji

"Yeah but this is the first time I've seen him fight like this" Ichigo said

"I can feel an amazing spiritual pressure coming from him"

Suddenly a new voice arrived "Well it looks like Shinji arrive just in time"

Ichigo turned his head "Sakura"

She raised a hand and waved lightly as she walked up to them slowly "Next time I'll be sure to cross my fingers behind my back when I make you a promise" she said in a cold voice

Ichigo stared at her for a moment "Are you alright?"

She nodded swiftly before stopping beside Rukia "Rukia are you alright?"

The petite rave haired girl nodded "Yes; don't worry about me what about you; you're injured"

Ichigo and Rukia looked at the cuts on Sakura's arm and waist "It's just a scratch" she replied; she hated using her healing powers for herself that was never a good thing mainly because it meant that she would use up her spiritual pressure and it weakened her physically so it didn't make sense for her to use it on herself unless they were life threatening wounds and they may have been a bit deep but she could still only consider them grazes.

"I thought I told you to heal yourself" Ichigo said in a slightly strained voice

Sakura looked at him with her usual stoic look as if he should be the last on talking about injuries when he was the one who took the most damage and Sakura was actually very upset with him. Upset because of watching him fight like that; after his mask vanished he knew that it was all over and because of the promise she made to him she hadn't interfered knowing that it would have hurt his pride; she remembered when Kyo told her that pride was something that was important to a man and that he would rather lose his life than his pride. Sakura didn't understand that for a while but soon she figured it out on her own and she knew that she wouldn't have wanted Ichigo to interfere with her battles if she made him promise not to though it wasn't easy watching him fight like that losing; the temptation to help him was almost too painful but she had to believe that he was going to find a way out of that situation. She was glad that he was saved but also upset because he had done something so reckless like coming after her and interrupting the fight.

Sakura was also aware that her chances of defeating Grimmjow were rather slim but she didn't know what had come over her; she had just run over there without really thinking; it was just an impulsive act on her part; she didn't know why she was acting so reckless but that could wait for the moment since she wanted to focus on how pissed she was at Ichigo for making her worry and watch him nearly loose that battle and possibly his life.

Shinji started attacking Grimmjow their blades clashed creating sparks as he struggled to keep up with the attacks on him they were moving through the air; he held his sword with one hand. He was launched back and started coming towards Shinji with his sword but he vanished before he made contact and appeared bellow him.

They were coming down "That mask you have on…"

He pulled back from him and held out his left hand and a red light began to form and Grimmjow knew what attack that was "You're strong" Shinji said "So I won't hold back"

"A cero" Grimmjow gasped in disbelief

It was fired at Grimmjow and hit him dead on making him fall into the roads creating a crater. He lowered himself as he watched Grimmjow pant and curse.

"So he can still move" Shinji observed "Oh I get it you countered with your on cero to reduce the damage not bad I guess you're not just all brawn and no brains"

Grimmjow glared at Shinji and took his sword and then there was a sudden burst of spiritual pressure he was about to go into this release form. Ichigo and Rukia were standing closely beside Sakura and she was worried that she wasn't going to be able to doge because if she didn't then they would be hit but then a hand shot out and grasped Grimmjow's hand that was holding the sword. They all saw it was Ulquiorra.

"Our mission is complete" he said calmly "We're leaving"

The sky began to open again and a light shot out of it taking them away and then it closed again leaving nothing but dead silence once more.

"Well this is interesting" Shinji said

**There you go everyone hoped you enjoyed it and I will be working on another chapter as you read so please don't forget to review and a thanks to all of those who reviewed and added this to favourites. **


	15. Chapter 15

**Ok here we are now another chapter; I hope you all enjoy it because I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to update for a while again. Read and Enjoy **

* * *

After the fight had ended everyone had gone to take care of their injuries from the battle with the arancars however none of them were even aware of the reason for the sudden attack but everything was going to become clear very soon.

Later on that night Orihime had returned to the world of the living and was in her apartment writing down a few instructions for Toshiro and Rangiku so that they would know how to hold a home together while she was gone. During the fight that day with the arancars Ulquiorra had paid Orihime a visit while she was on her way back from the soul society. He had told her that in order to save her friends she had to come with him. He gave her a bracelet that would put up a barrier so that only arancars could see her and then told her that she had to meet him in twelve hours. She had to finish whatever business she had and then she would have to leave.

"That's strange" Rukia said taking her phone away from her ear "I can't reach Orihime in the soul society, maybe there's some spiritual wave interference" she sighed and then looked over at Sakura who was staring to the side and she knew why; she was looking at Ichigo who was lying in bed still asleep after the fight he had passed out.

Hachigen had told them that Ichigo's spirit energy had intermingled with the arancars and that he had to stay away from them for a while so that he could recover fully since they had spirit energy similar to the arancars however Sakura had decided to stay with him because she had a way of removing the arancars spiritual pressure inside of Ichigo. After a bit of a debate they decided to allow her to go with Rukia to help Ichigo; after Hachigen had wrapped Ichigo up best he could Sakura was left to do the rest and had immediately worked on helping him.

_Sakura and Rukia looked at Ichigo bandaged up in bed still out cold; his entire chest was wrapped up and so was his hand's it was like their first fights after math all over again for them. _

"_He should be fine now" Rukia said but then turned to Sakura when she felt something. Sakura held out her hands and it started to glow._

"_Sakura what are you doing?" Rukia asked _

_Breathing in deeply she placed her hand on his chest "I'm going to use something I learned" she said _

_Rukia looked at her "What's that?" _

_Sakura turned to Rukia briefly then back at Ichigo again _

"_It's a new technique I learned during training; it's an advancement of my Taiyo no Kisu" she explained and looked back down to Ichigo she murmured "Kage no Kisu (Shadow kiss)" _

_There was a light dark flame at appeared from Sakura's hand that was on Ichigo's chest; taking a deep breath again there was the sight of a light coming up from his chest after a while Sakura pulled back and fell to her knees panting heavily. Rukia put her arm around Sakura's shoulders to support her. _

"_Are you alright?" she asked _

_Sakura nodded then she looked over at Ichigo again "It's alright; I'm fine really; it's just that this technique is an advancement in my Taiyo no Kisu; every time I use this I temporarily feel drained of my spirit energy" _

"_What kind of power was Ichigo trying to obtain?" Rukia asked her suddenly thinking that it wasn't a good idea to bring up what kind of power Sakura was trying to obtain_

"_He was only doing this in order to protect everyone Rukia" Sakura told him "Shouldn't that be enough?" _

Rukia sat there curled up with her knees up to her chest at Ichigo's desk; Sakura looked over at Ichigo's wounds that were bandaged she had wanted to heal them but she stopped herself from doing so with reason of course; she was drained after taking out the arancars spiritual pressure. Sakura looked at Rukia she seemed so confused now and Sakura couldn't say she really blamed her; she wasn't able to give all of the answers either because she didn't know them herself or she really couldn't. So here they were now both in Ichigo's room waiting for him to wake up.

Rukia stood up "Ichigo will be safe here I better go check on Orihime" she said

Then the two girls heard familiar voices coming from outside of his room. They went and opened the door and found Yuzu and Karin standing there together with trays in their hands.

"Um Sakura and Rukia would it be ok if we ate dinner in here?" Yuzu asked

The two girls smiled "I'm sure he would like that" Rukia said and Sakura nodded in agreement

"Aren't you both hungry as well its dinner time?" Yuzu said as she and Karin handed Rukia and Sakura trays.

"I made a special dish for you" Yuzu told the two girls there were pictures of the two girls on their meals.

"Wow what's this?" Sakura asked

"A surprise; smells good huh?" Yuzu asked happily

Rukia held up her hands "Yeah but I was just on my way out"

"Oh; really?" Yuzu asked her eyebrows furrowed

"I'm not very hungry" Rukia said but just as she said it her stomach growled loudly

Sakura nudged Rukia slightly by her arm "Come you can go after we eat" she insisted

Rukia looked over at Sakura surprised but couldn't read her expression as her eyes were closed and all you could see was a smiling face. Although it wasn't a look of happiness; Rukia could see that she was hiding her pain and worry in a situation like this when you smile it could only mean you were grieving.

"Your tummy knows more than you do" Yuzu stated

* * *

After dinner Rukia and Sakura finished washing up the dishes; Rukia decided to head out while Sakura chose to stay for a while; she told Rukia she might come back later tonight; Ichigo's family believed that he got beat up by some gang or something at least that's what they thought. Rukia gave Sakura her farewell and went to go and check on Orihime. After Sakura saw her off she was heading back up to Ichigo's room but then saw his father.

"Oh hey Sakura" he greeted "How's my idiot son doing?"

"He's fine" Sakura said with a glint of worry in her eyes "Of course he's still sleeping"

"Ah don't worry about him it's his own stupid fault he got beat up by some bullies I mean they're not even from his school"

He walked passed Sakura "I'm sorry Mr Kurosaki; it's all my fault for getting him involved"

"What are you talking about he's old enough to know better I'm just glad that you're safe" he said

Sakura started to head upstairs "I think that Karin and Yuzu are sleeping so I'm going to go put them into bed"

"Are you sure?" Isshin asked her

"Yes don't worry" Sakura said she looked down for a moment before turning back to see him "Um; Mr Kurosaki would it be alright if I….stayed with Ichigo for tonight?"

Isshin smiled and nodded "Of course you can; I still don't know how my idiot son keeps getting all of these girls"

Sakura thanked him and went into Ichigo's room

* * *

Sakura set Yuzu in bed and made sure that both girls were tucked in she went over to Ichigo's room again; she leaned against the door frame for a while just looking at him sleeping peacefully. His breathing was normal; she watched as his chest rose and fell slowly; he looked more surreal and relaxed; he didn't appear tense and wasn't scowling.

'This is all my fault' she thought 'I wish I could get a hold of my powers better' she told herself

Walking over to him she hovered over Ichigo slightly reaching out her hand to lightly brush his bangs before pulling away; he seemed so peaceful in his sleep it was a shame it didn't last or he would be cuter…

'What the hell am I thinking?' she shook her head trying to make sense of her thoughts this was like the time she kissed him on the cheek; what the hell was that anyway?

Sakura sat down on the floor beside his bed; she hoped that the effects of her Kage no Kisu worked correctly; she wouldn't want anything bad to happen but she would stay to make sure at least that's what she told herself saying that it was the reason she was actually there now but another part of her was saying she had gotten a soft spot for him.

'Dear god I'm losing my image please help' she thought closing her eyes as she leaned back against the side of the bed.

'I might be a bit in over my head I guess more than I thought at first'

* * *

A few hours later back in Ichigo's room as everyone had fallen into an uneasy sleep an unexpected figure started to come through the window; literally through the window without having to open it.

"Ok there we go" a familiar female voice said

Orihime stood over Ichigo's bed with a small smile on her face

"That's hard to get used to but here I am; I decided to say goodbye to you Ichigo. There are actually a lot of other people I wanted to say goodbye to as well like Tatsuki; Chad; Uryuu; Rukia and Sakura but I'd get in trouble if I did so I had to choose."

She heard him breathing softly as he slept; she suddenly blushed "Wait I just realised your bedroom this is the first time I've ever been in your bedroom by myself since I've known you" she blushed harder as she inhaled slightly 'It has your scent'

She glanced back down at Ichigo his figure visible from the moonlight that shone through the window as everyone grew silent as if time stopped; slowly she reached for his hand and leaned over him inching her face closer to his; a bright blush on her face and her heart racing with the intention of kissing him; she held on tighter to his hand as her lips got closer to his just inches away as the memories of the passed with him came flowing back.

Orihime thought back to the times when she found out Ichigo was a soul reaper when he saved her from her brother who had become a hollow; when they were spying on Uryuu together; when they were called into the principal's office with their friends and then running out of the office when the teacher wasn't looking to avoid detention; when Ichigo found out that Orihime would be going with all of them to the soul society to stop Rukia's execution; the time she watched as Ichigo fought against Byakuya Kuchiki and when she sat by him after his fight with Byakuya; when they first encountered the arancars and Ichigo and Sakura saved her; when Rukia had made Ichigo apologise to Orihime for being weak and when he vowed to her he would become stronger and when she saw that look on his face after she told him about Aizen's plans and how he hadn't been fazed.

Tears started to fall from her eyes yet she still had a smile on her face

"Just look at me; the truth is I just can't bring myself to do it" she moved away and wiped her eyes "I'm so ashamed of myself it's my last moment with you and I'm trying to…."

"Ichigo…" Orihime gasped at the new voice that sounded in the room; she looked over and saw a flash of pink; there Sakura was lying on the floor right beside his bed breathing lightly; murmuring his name in her sleep. Her body curled in a ball.

"Sakura" Orihime looked and smiled before wiping her tears away "Look at what I almost did; I almost did something like this and you're right here…" she felt a lump in her throat as a small sob escaped

"When I look at it now Sakura's been with you for a while now huh? She's always there to help you no matter what" she blinked tears back "She was there with you training; she was there when you fought and she helped you and right now this is all I can do for you"

She leaned against the window "When I think about it Ichigo; there were so many things I wanted to do; I wanted to become a school teacher I wanted to become an astronaut; I wanted to be a baker; I wanted to go to a bunch of donut shops and ask for one of everything; I even wanted to stop the ice cream man and his truck and tell him to give me one of everything he had as well" she sighed heavily; looking up; no more tears in her eyes

"I wish I could've had five different lives instead of one; then instead of one town I could've been born in a family with five different ones" she smiled counting on her fingers "And each one would've fed me a life time of different foods and I would've grown up to have five different careers" she stopped and glanced down with a small smile on her face.

"And in every one of those lives…..I would've fallen in love with the same person five different times" she whispered and then turned to Sakura

"And you know what I think that if Sakura also had five different lives she would've done the same thing" she smiled softly

"Goodbye Ichigo"

* * *

The next morning was a peaceful and Ichigo woke up with a shock; so much so that he fell out of bed and hit his head hard on the ground waking Sakura up who was wrapped in a blanket at the side of his bed. She tiredly rubbed her eyes and looked at Ichigo and smiled when she saw he was awake but also confused as to why he was on the floor.

"Ichigo you're awake" Sakura said blinking her eyes to remove the sleep

"My freaken head I'm such as Idiot" he said and then noticed Sakura was in his room; he stared at her a little in surprise

"Sakura what are you doing here; how long have you been here?" he asked quickly

"I've been here all night" she replied swiftly craning her neck that was aching from sleeping on the floor and moving her shoulders making a cracking sound before standing up.

"All night; are you serious?" he asked in disbelief; taking in the fact that she had actually stayed with him the entire night just to watch over him.

"Did you fall asleep on the floor?"

Sakura nodded; her eyes still closed as she tried to get the feeling back in her body she opened her eyes and looked at him "Are you gonna just sit on the floor or get up?"

Ichigo stared at her "Why would you do that?"

"You know you asked a lot of questions" she stated rubbing her head "I can't keep up"

"And wait" he unwrapped his bandages ignoring her question "Did you heal my wounds?"

"It wasn't me" Sakura interrupted looking at him with a straight face; then narrowed her eyes

"What?" Ichigo asked

"I don't get it" Sakura whispered crouching back down again; she looked at his hand and felt strange; familiar spiritual pressure.

Sakura held out his hand to his face "Doesn't it seem like someone else?" she asked

Ichigo looked shocked "Was Orihime here to?"

Sakura shook her head "I didn't see her but it feels like that's her spiritual pressure"

Suddenly the window opened and Toshiro appeared "Sakura; Ichigo come immediately it's an emergency"

* * *

Ichigo and Sakura came to Orihime's apartment and saw everyone gathered there together now. Rukia was there as well and she looked very worried. Sakura glanced at all the other soul reapers and she felt that something wasn't right about this atmosphere around them. There was something wrong everyone was in Orihime's home except for Orihime. In the living room there was a giant screen.

"Why's everyone standing here in Orihime's room?" Ichigo asked "And where is she anyway? "

Toshiro walked passed them and over to the huge screen that was there "What is the status?" he asked Rangiku

"Sir we have regulated the spiritual wave" she said

"Fine put me through" he said

Looking at the screen a picture started to form of a man with long with hair and brown eyes; he was wearing a white coat and had a serious look on his face.

"Uikitake; I was looking for the head captain" Toshiro said a little surprised

"I had him switch to me" he replied

"And your reason" Toshiro demanded

Closing his eyes he started to speak "Because I'm the last person that saw Orihime Inoue before she went through the Senkaimon to return to the world of the living"

That caught everyone off guard and neither of them was able to hide their surprised faces not even Sakura.

"Judging by your reaction it doesn't appear as though she's arrived there safely as I had hoped"

"What's the meaning of this Jushiro?" Ichigo asked it seems he really didn't have a care for titles "Where exactly did she disappear to?"

"I'll give you my assessment" he replied but that didn't make anyone feel better "The two guards' I had sent with her when she came through the Senkaimon came back alive according to them it's likely that Orihime Inoue has either been abducted or killed by the arancars"

Ichigo froze solid and Rukia started to get frantic while Sakura clutched her arm tighter to stay calm "Captain Ukitake I believe you're jumping to conclusions" Rukia said

"I understand, I don't want to believe it either; I'm simply stating the worst possible scenario there is; we think it more likely however that Orihime Inoue was attacked by an arancar and then disappeared with him" Ichigo clenched his fists; he was going to explode in five; four three; two…

"Are you kidding me is that really all you have!?" he shouted "Orihime has disappeared; you say that there's no proof and that she might be dead!"

Everyone else around him stayed silent as he held out his hand "Well take a look at this I was badly injured in yesterday's battle but when I woke up this morning my wounds were completely healed and Sakura told me that she didn't heal them and that the spiritual pressure was Orihime's! Are you still just gonna stand there and tell me that she might be dead!?"

Sakura nodded in agreement with Ichigo but there was something troubling her about why Orihime had suddenly vanished like that if she had gone to visit Ichigo last night. What was even more disturbing was that neither of them woke up when she came in.

"I see" another gruff voice entered "That is most unfortunate"

"Unfortunate?" Sakura asked confused slightly

"Wait; what do you mean by that?" Ichigo asked

"If what you say is true" the head captain started "Then it would be safe to assume that Orihime Inoue is indeed alive but at the same time unfortunately it also means that this is an act of betrayal"

Sakura's eyes widened slightly "Act of betrayal what do you mean?" she asked

"If she had been abducted; she would not have had the time to visit you" he said speaking to Ichigo "In other words the fact that she healed your wounds while you slept would mean that she actually volunteered to go along with the arancar of her own free will"

Ichigo felt a spark of panic "You take that back-

"Stop" Renji said holding Ichigo back "You'll just end up worsening your position if you say anything else"

Renji looked at the monitor "Sir; I understand what you're saying head captain Yamamoto there for as a member of the advanced troops and because I am the lieutenant of squad six; I will head over to Hueco Mundo to bring the traitor Orihime Inoue back to her senses"

Ichigo looked shell shocked and so did Sakura she was surprised that he could be so loyal "Renji"

The head captain banged his stick lightly on the ground "You must not" he stated firmly although he was old his voice held much authority; the two of them looked shocked

"What?" Ichigo asked looking back at the monitor.

"With this new information we now know that the arancars are ready for battle; all members of captain Hitsugaya's advanced troops are to return immediately" as he said this Sakura could feel some of the heart wrenching feelings going on inside of everyone; she couldn't believe that this was what the soul society was like. They obeyed the rules with no acceptations at all

"Are you saying that Orihime is to be abandoned by us head captain?" Rukia asked

"Exactly" he said bluntly "We cannot risk the safety of the entire world just to go chasing after one simple human."

"Unfortunately head captain with all due respect I can't follow that order" Rukia said looking down; Sakura looked at Rukia

"Unfortunate indeed" he said

Sakura tensed when she felt something about to open up behind them she turned around and stood on one side where she felt something was going to appear and there were two entities with.

"I thought that this might happen; I'm glad that I have prepared for it" these two gates stared to appear beside Sakura and then open. Out of a bright light stepped out two soul reapers Sakura has never seen before. One had spikey dark hair with bells on them and a scar across his one eye and an eye patch on his other; he looked really scary and then there was another guy; he was handsome with dark hair and grey eyes but his face looked really serious; he also had a blue scarf around his neck and Sakura could tell that they were both really powerful.

"Captain Kuchiki" Renji said looking at the dark haired soul reaper

'Kuchiki' Sakura thought and then remembered Rukia told her she had a brother that was a captain; that must be him.

"Kempachi" Ichigo said in shock

"Alright; I want you all to head on back" said Zaraki

"Don't fight us; we have been ordered to take you back by force if necessary" Byakuya stated calmly

There was silence from everyone now; it looked like no one knew what to say in response other than Ichigo.

"Alright then" Ichigo said "In that case I'm not going to ask the soul society to help me get Orihime back…..however the least you can tell me is how to get into Hueco Mundo" he turned around to look at the head captain "After all she's still my friend; so I'll just go save her myself"

"Ichigo" Rukia saw the stern look on his face

"You must not" Yamamoto stated firmly taking Ichigo by surprise "We are going to need your help in this battle Ichigo Kurosaki as well as you Sakura Haruno yes I know who you are and have heard a great deal about your powers" he looked at Sakura for a brief moment "I won't allow either of you to plot your own course of action and die for nothing stand by until you receive orders that is all for now" he then vanished and the screen went dark again

Sakura could feel the rage radiating off of Ichigo's body and she wasn't too happy about it either; she wanted to bluntly state that what he wanted from her didn't matter because she wouldn't get herself involved with the soul society at all and that she had her own gender and it wasn't to obey orders however for now she felt it would be better to remain silent until the right chance presented itself.

"Let's go" Kempachi said leaving into the white

Everyone else followed and Rukia looked over at Sakura and Ichigo who were staring at the screen still

"Ichigo; Sakura; I'm sorry" she said and with that the gates closed and vanished

* * *

A few hours later after everything had happened Ichigo and Sakura had gone back home not really in the mood for talking. They weren't the only one's now who were upset about Orihime's disappearance because Tatsuki had been out looking for her all day and yet there was no trace of her.

Ichigo was back at home now not in the best of moods; he had made a stop at the visored's hide out and left them a thank you note with bandages; he was sitting in his room and could hear his families voices from behind his door.

"What should we do to cheer him up?" Yuzu asked her sister

"Let's bring him dinner" she suggested

Ichigo's family has noticed that he's been rather upset for a while now since he came home and it didn't change at all.

"What about some ice cream?" Yuzu suggested from Behind Ichigo's door

"Nah before that he'll get a big bear hug from me" Isshin said

He rammed through Ichigo's door and got up looking at his son he saw him sitting by his desk with his hand under his chin just staring into space with a blank look on his face.

"Oh that's too bad" Ichigo replied softly

"Hey Ichigo" Yuzu smiled

"Looked why you don't have some dinner" Karin suggested "Otherwise Yuzu won't be able to clear the table"

"I'm sorry" Ichigo said starring off "I don't really feel like eating today"

"But Yuzu prepared all of your favourite dishes" Karin said "You have to"

"I'm sorry Yuzu" he replied softly

"Oh it's alright don't worry about it" Yuzu waved her hands in front of her "I'll put it in the refrigerator and you can eat it when you feel hungry; alright let's go" the two twins turned their attention to their father "Come on dad you to" she said

His dad stood up "Huh? Ok"

When they were gone Kon appeared out of nowhere "Nice job Ichigo" he said appearing on his bed "You just apologise three times a new national record for being pathetic" Kon teased but Ichigo didn't respond to him at all, Kon didn't seem to have gotten the memo that Orihime was gone now and labelled a traitor.

"What's wrong you're acting all gloomy again? I know you're constipated right well believe me there's plenty of other things to get down in the dumps about if you'll pardon the expression" there still wasn't any of the usual Ichigo reactions there; he was too calm and then Ichigo stood up

"Oh you wanna fight is that it?" Kon said getting his hopes up

"Sorry but could you move please" Ichigo asked

"Oh sorry" Kon said getting off his bed "Sorry" and the realised something "Hey wait you're acting like you're completely out of it!"

Ichigo didn't respond to him and simple stared at his hand where he had last felt Orihime's spiritual pressure

* * *

Sakura sat up in her bed thinking about the turn of events today; there was the fact that Orihime was gone now and this sick feeling inside of her. The feeling you get when you lose something important and even though Sakura didn't know Orihime for a very long time she knew that she was someone important to Ichigo; she was one of his friends and this was killing him inside and the way the head captain stated that they were to leave her like that without figuring out an explanation the feeling angered her more than it should have.

She felt this feeling was familiar to her; when a friend betrays you like that by leaving and then you still want to go after than friend and bring them back she didn't know why but it was familiar to her for some reason. She also knew the feeling of guilt and worry because Orihime had gone to Ichigo's house that night when she was there and she hadn't woken up to stop her to save her.

'Just like Kyo' she thought a single tear fell from her eye 'Am I just doomed to always feel this way? To watch the people I get close to vanish and I'm never able to do anything about it'

**There you have it get ready because the next chapter they'll be going to Hueco Mundo; wonder how that's going to work out; I know that some people might have wanted Sakura to be kidnaped to but then there would be no way for Ichigo and Sakura to grow closer if that were to happen. **

**REIVEW PLEASE **


	16. Chapter 16

Alright everyone here's another update and for all you Sakura fans there's another new crossover with Fairy tail and a death note crossover will be coming soon.!Also there will be a re edit of my story wWelcome to my life.

Please read and enjoy

* * *

The next day at school after a very uneasy night; Ichigo and Sakura had come back to school and were right now in homeroom class early getting a scolding from their teacher who appeared to have changed her hair style and cut it shorter.

"Well if it isn't Ichigo and Sakura" she said with a humourless smile and throbbing vein on her forehead as she looked at the two students who were appearing very nonchalant when you consider they have been absent for the past month

"Long time no see" the teacher said "I was sad thinking the both of you didn't want to graduate with the rest of your class; neither of you have been hospitalised due to an accident right? Or maybe you were just sneaking off somewhere together; have a little quiet time I'm guessing? Well say something for yourselves"

Sakura glanced to the side; her eyes cast down "That's not exactly it" they both said together

"Oh and Sakura I'm afraid that this has also been informed by the orphanage director"

Sakura nodded simply "I understand"

Even though Sakura had never actually gone to the orphanage again after Kyo adopted her; she had technically become an orphan again and had no legal guardian however she had convinced the orphanage not to make her go back; though her behaver still had to be reported.

* * *

9Later on during break while Ichigo was walking through the hall way Keigo started running up to him from behind about to jump onto Ichigo's back.

"Ichigo it sure has been a long time huh?" Keigo said

When Mizuiro knocked Keigo down and stepped on his head "It really has been a while; what have you been doing during the month you took off? We were worried about you; you didn't even answer you text messages" smile Mizuiro

Ichigo turned around with an unusual smile on his face "Oh yeah sorry about that I was a little busy"

"Hey guys" Sakura came walking in with a small smile on her face as well

Keigo stood up "Hello there Sakura; it's been a while since we've seen you around at school I think you were gone almost as long as Ichigo"

Mizuiro cocked his eyebrow at Keigo "That's because they have been gone as long together. Wait; don't tell me you two were together this whole time?"

Ichigo kept his smile on his face "Well you could say that" they said looking at each other with their smiles and yet behind them there was anything but happiness.

Keigo pointed at them in shock but wasn't able to think of anything to say after they practically admitted they had been together for an entire month.

"Oh well in any case I wanted to give this to you" Mizuiro said handing Ichigo two tickets "Their for Bashield two" he smiled "You guys can come with us if you want"

"When is it?" Sakura asked

"December 5"

"Sure sounds good" Ichigo said; his smile gone now 'I should be back by then'

"Ichigo" someone called and footsteps were heading towards them; they saw Tatsuki coming towards them; Sakura remembered that this was Orihime's best friend. Sakura looked at the raven haired girl who looked like she had just run a marathon.

She looked up at them "What is it tell me what's wrong" Ichigo said

"It's Orihime; she disappeared" Tatsuki said

Sakura internally flinched when she said that; it looked like she had noticed that Orihime was missing.

"She's not at home or anywhere; her entire presence has disappeared; it's true I've been looking all over the city for her but she's gone" she walked up to Ichigo and glared at him "But you know; you know where she went don't you? Admit it"

Ichigo was silent for a while before replying "What do you mean by that? Why would I know" Sakura could see that he was trying to appear nonchalant about it so that he didn't alert any of his friends it wasn't like they would believe them even if they told the truth

"Besides are you sure she really disappeared; why don't you just try-

Ichigo's sentence was cut short when Tatsuki grabbed him by his shirt "Cut it out! I've always been able to sense her but her presence has disappeared I can't sense her nearby" she said

It was obvious that Tatsuki had the ability to see spirits as well; Sakura had learned that people with high levels of spirit energy have the ability to see spirits and soul reapers.

Ichigo's eyes widened "For a while now I've only been able to faintly sense her; it was as if she was on the other side of some wall but yesterday she suddenly vanished without a trace and you know something about this I know you do!" she exclaimed

"Just cut it out; I already told you I don't know" Ichigo stated lying so calmly

"Yes you do and don't think I don't know either"

That took both of them by surprise as they listened to Tatsuki; they were lucky that the hall way wasn't packed or things could get worse.

"I've seen you; when you wear that black robe and go around fighting monsters and a bunch of other people wearing the same get up! Ichigo I've had it with all the lies tell me the truth what are you trying to hide?"

There was silence for a while before Ichigo spoke up and his words cut the air like a knife

"Listen it's none of your business"

Tatsuki lost it and punched Ichigo sending him back where he knocked his head against the window breaking it.

"Tatsuki what are you doing?" Keigo exclaimed grabbing hold of her "Have you completely lost your mind?"

"Are you alright Ichigo" Mizuiro asked turning to Ichigo

Ichigo wiped the blood from his mouth

"What do you think I am?" Tatsuki asked "I want to know; what am I to you; am I someone who even matters to you; do you honestly consider me your friend; are you really my friend!"

Ichigo looked up at her "I saved you all those times when you were getting beat up how many times did I find you crying and try to help you; just cut it out stop trying to hide things from me!" she began to cry "You idiot!"

Ichigo stood up and walked over to Sakura who just stared at them stoic

"Sorry" he said "Keigo; Mizuiro take care of Tatsuki" he began walking off with Sakura right beside him; she didn't look back and didn't say anything "And do yourself a favour and stay away from me"

"YOU IDIOT" Tatsuki shouted at him

* * *

As Ichigo and Sakura walked through the night in their soul reaper forms they came to Kisuke's store where they found the shop keeper standing there as if he was waiting for them.

"Hey welcome back; I've been waiting for you two to show up"

"Oh yeah what made you think that?" Ichigo asked walking side by side with Sakura

"Because you thought I would know a way into Hueco Mundo" he turned around and opened the door "And you would've been correct. Come inside Sakura; Ichigo; I've made some preparations"

* * *

Urahara took the two soul reapers down into the training grounds where Ichigo had fist hollowfied; it was also where Sakura had come to train with Kisuke for her bankai every night since she had taken on the visored training.

Kisuke started to explain to them how he was worried that Aizen was going to come after Orihime's power so he wanted her to stay out of the battle.

"Taking her feelings into consideration it was my mistake to leave her out" Kisuke said "I shall do anything I can in order to try and help you"

"You sure about that; I mean you would be going against the soul society's decision" Ichigo said

"I'm here because I went against their rules in the first place" Kisuke smiled

"Well you sure are a sad sight Ichigo" said a familiar voice

Ichigo looked around and found Uryuu looking back at him from on top of a rock; Sakura had heard about Uryuu from Ichigo and that he was a Quincy.

"Hey Uryuu wait a minute what are you doing here?" Ichigo asked slightly shocked

"Isn't it obvious" Chad's voice cut through the air "We're going to Hueco Mundo"

"But Chad" Ichigo started looking at his friend

"Kisuke already gave us all of the details we're going with you" determination clear in Chad's voice

"Yeah" Uryuu said

Ichigo looked down "You can't look I appreciate your concern but you're both not strong enough"

Sakura felt a sudden burst of spiritual pressure and moved away from Ichigo as Chad hit him it his armoured fist which Ichigo managed to block with his sword.

"Now do you think that I'm still not strong enough?" Chad asked Ichigo looked at him shocked

"Believe in us" Chad said "Don't take this on by yourself this is what friends are for"

Sakura went over to Ichigo and grabbed a hold of his arm taking him by surprise.

Ichigo turned to face her "What's the matter?"

She looked at him with a straight face "Nothing"

Kisuke started clapping to get their attention.

"Alright are we all set?" he asked "It looks like everybody's ready finally"

Urahara took them further into the training ground where they stood near two large boulders with large pieces of wood lodged inside of them; he was standing on the right piece of wood. Everyone else was gathered together in front of it.

"Alright everyone the time has come; I shall now open the path to Hueco Mundo" announced Kisuke "The rest of you had better stand back a bit it's pretty dangerous around here"

"No way" Ririn said flapping her wings up and down "This doesn't happen often so I wanna see it"

Tessa pick them up and put the mod soul dolls further away with Ururu and Ginta and then gave Kisuke the go for it signal.

Kisuke got down on one knee and started to chant something "Here in my right hand the stone that connects the worlds; in my left hand the blade that binds existence" his left hand that held his cane which held his own zampakuto started to glow a bright blue and white "The shepherd with black hair; the chair of the nukes I strike the-

Everyone watched as Kisuke continued his chant the pillars started to glow a white and blue shade as well and then the light shot out to the left piece of wood and connected and then in the shape of an oval a black hole appeared in between the two pillars.

"This hole that the arancars come and go through is known as the Garganta; there is no solid ground beyond this point only a chaos of reishi each of you must create his own path out of that go toward the darkness and you will arrive in Hueco Mundo"

"Alright fine" Ichigo said "Kisuke can you let my family know I'm alright I want you to tell them not to worry; that I can take care of myself"

"Yes of course"

"Alright then" Ichigo jumped up into the air towards the darkness of the Garganta "Let's go"

Soon Sakura; Chad and Uryuu followed after him into the darkness before it closed.

"Good luck" Kisuke said

And thus their journey towards Hueco Mundo began.

* * *

"Ah welcome; this is Las Noches our palace" Aizen introduce to Orihime

After Orihime had said her goodbye's to Ichigo and Sakura she had gone to meet up with Ulquiorra and she now found herself in a huge room starring up at Aizen from his thrown surrounded by arancars around them.

"Orihime Inoue is that correct?" Aizen asked leaning on his hand

"Yes" Orihime replied shakingely a bit

"Sorry to rush you but will you show me your power?" he asked her

"Yes" she felt her hand shake slightly; she felt like her strength was being sucked out of her body a moment ago.

"It seems there are certain people who would much more prefer it if I had not brought you here to Hueco Mundo" Aizen said calmly "Isn't that right Luppi?"

"Yes of course I don't like it" Luppi said in disdain slightly "Our entire battle has meant nothing all of it was little more than a diversion so that we could bring this girl here!" Orihime stared

"Frankly it only makes me disgusted with her"

"It was shocking" Aizen said "I was surprised to see you beaten so severely"

Luppi made the slightly growling noise and narrowed his eyes a little "Oh I know what we should do; Orihime demonstrate the strength of your power for us" Aizen said "I want you to heal Grimmjow's left arm"

Orihime turned around to face Grimmjow who was standing a bit further behind her

"Impossible that's crazy Lord Aizen it can't be done. Grimmjow; director general Tosin turned his arm into ashes how's she going to heal something that doesn't exist? She's not a god!"

Orihime walked up to Grimmjow who just stared down at her; Orihime closed her eyes and whispered her chant "Soten Kishun" her two flower petals came from her hair and surrounded the area where Grimmjow's arm should be "Now; I reject" she held out her hands on the shield"

Luppi turned around to face them "Hey are you listening girl if you're putting on a pathetic act to save yourself you can forget it" he pointed at her and grinned evilly "Should I see that you haven't any power then there's no reason to keep someone like you….." he trailed off as he watched Grimmjow's arm begin to regenerate and return blood; bones and skin all the way it was before it was destroyed "Alive"

Orihime stopped when his arm was fully formed; Grimmjow looked at his arm in slight shock "H-How; this is beyond the point of healing what sorcery is this? What did you do girl?" Luppi shouted

"Don't you understand; Ulquiorra thinks it's temporal or special regression both are interesting theories" Aizen said

"It is neither one temporal or special it rejects all forms of phenomenon; her power limits; rejects and negates what has happened to an object she has the power to return things in the state they existed in before event's changed them. It exceed temporal or special regression effortlessness it overcomes the limits of all established phenomenon; it knows no borders or barriers in fact it over steps the limitations set by gods" Aizen said "However she is not the only one with this power; I believe that there is another with an even greater power"

Orihime's eyes widened slightly "Sakura Haruno"

* * *

For a while now Ichigo; Sakura; Chad and Uryuu have been making their way through the Garganta and Ichigo had been having a bit of trouble making footing that was stable and as he ran from time to time he would actually feel his feet sink into the cracking reishi.

"Dammit" Ichigo cursed almost falling again "He talked about making a path with reishi as if it were so easy but I'm really terrible when it comes to doing little things like this"

Chad was running behind Ichigo on his reishi path and lost his footing almost falling off but managed to grab the end before he fell.

"Chad; are you alright?" Ichigo asked him as he climbed back on

"I'm fine" he said

"Sorry about that" Ichigo said

"My; my; that's pathetic can't you make footing that's any better than that?" Uryuu asked coming in on his reishi path which was flying on its own

Ichigo glared at him "Just shut the hell up; I just said I'm not good at these kinds of things and I wanna know what that thing is that you have it looks to me like you're cheating" he accused

"This is a variation of the Hirenkyaku it's not that hard really" he stated

"I want you to make me one" Ichigo said

"Look you're inability to control spirit energy means that you wouldn't be able to use this" Uryuu replied pushing his glasses up

"The way you're talking you make it sound like I don't have any powers at all!" Ichigo snapped

"Was I wrong? I mean even Sakura can do it and if I remember correctly she knows less about these kinds of things than you and yet she's able to make that" he said pointing in the opposite direction

Ichigo turned around and saw Sakura running up to them on her reishi path; it was much neater and was straight also it appeared solid.

"See what I mean; you can't even make your own footing properly" Uryuu repeated

"Now I'm gonna kill ya" Ichigo said about to launch for Uryuu but wasn't able to because he almost fell through his footing again

Uryuu sighed "I'll go ahead of you"

"Uryuu" Chad called him making him stop

"I was told you made a deal with your father; Kisuke said that in return for your father's training you wouldn't get involved with soul reapers or their associates that are what he said you agreed to so why be you here?"

"Is that true" Ichigo asked "Because I didn't hear anything about that"

During the rest of the trip Uryuu explained that Kisuke had come to him after his training and told him what happened to Orihime and even though he was going to refuse to help Ichigo at first when he heard that Ichigo had been abandoned by the soul society he said that it changed because that meant that Ichigo and Sakura were neither soul reapers or their associates and that was technically right and Sakura guessed that it was a good loop hole.

"So it doesn't go against my contract" Uryuu justified

Sakura stared at him "That's pretty smart; an illogical argument but smart nonetheless"

"I prefer to think of it as a loop hole" Uryuu countered

"Whatever what the hell is the difference between the two?" Ichigo shot back

"Shut up whose side are you one?" Uryuu snapped

"You're enemies" Ichigo bluntly replied

* * *

After a while they had finally reached the end and all four of them broke through from the other side into Hueco Mundo landing safely. They started looking around; it was extremely dark now and it appeared as though they were in a narrow passage way.

"I never expected the buildings to look as solid as this" Ichigo said rubbing the back of his head

"It's strange" Sakura commented

"When you consider all the crazy things that come out of this place I figured it would look like a dump" Ichigo said

"Ichigo keep your voice down; if they don't already know we're here we don't want to go around advertising the fact" Uryuu said

"Is this place really Hueco Mundo?" he asked a little louder

"Did you hear what I said?" Uryuu asked in frustration

"I heard you think I'm deaf you were making more noise than I was" Ichigo said calmly

Ichigo suddenly smiled "Hey I figure things would go a lot faster if we let them know we're here we just grab the first guy that show's up then we make them tell us where Orihime is" he started walking again

"Hey is anyone here-

Sakura ran up to Ichigo and smacked her hand over his mouth

"Are you done?" Sakura asked waiting for him to stop struggling "I want to find her to but if you're going to keep moving like this I'm not gonna let go"

Ichigo stopped struggling and Sakura let go immediately "What the heck was that for?" he asked

"Don't make so much noise" Sakura replied "If you're thinking of capturing someone a sneak attack might be better than announcing it and risk walking into an ambush"

Ichigo sighed and started walking on with Sakura; he turned back to Uryuu and Chad who were watching "Well are you guys coming?"

Chad and Uryuu followed after them; unknowingly to them they had just set off an alarm alerting others of some visitors.

While Uryuu was looking around every corner they went Ichigo; Sakura and Chad were just walking through the hall ways like they were in school.

"Alright coast is clear" Uryuu observed

"Hey anyone there" Ichigo shouted suddenly and Sakura narrowed her eyes at him

"What are you doing?" Uryuu asked in slight panic

"What you already cost is clear so there's nothing to worry about" Ichigo said

"Of course there's always a need to worry" Uryuu shot back "You can't just walk in here without any sense of caution"

"Calm down" Chad said

Uryuu slammed fist into the side of the wall "I'm the calmest one here" a small part of the wall suddenly went in like a button and everyone went silent. Then there was a sudden rumbling coming from one direction and they all turned to look at it then they saw the floor stating to fall in towards them.

Sakura started to back away "We should get out of here!"

They all turned around and started running away "Look what you've done is that what you call being careful?" Ichigo asked

"If you'd kept your mouth shut we wouldn't be in this mess" he shot back at Ichigo

"Hey don't try to blame this one on me" Ichigo yelled back at him

"Then who is there to blame?" Sakura asked as they kept running

Sakura continued running but it was so dark it was hard to see where they were going and she tripped suddenly.

"Sakura" Ichigo panicked

"Don't stop keep running" she said

Sakura looked at the floor started to fall under coming right towards her; she quickly jumped up and ran towards the others however the ground collapsed beneath her feet.

"SAKURA" they shouted after her

Chad managed to grab hold of her arm but the he was about to fall in when Uryuu caught his arm quickly but he started slipping as well and then Ichigo grabbed a hold of Uryuu but then he started to slip slightly as well. Ichigo managed to pull everyone up and out of the hole.

"Thanks for that. Are you guys alright?" Sakura asked kneeling down

"Yeah" they all said

Uryuu looked back at the missing floor "What idiots who uses traps like that anymore?"

"I wouldn't talk if I were you because you're the one who fell for that old fashioned trap" Ichigo commented

"Sorry I guess I just wasn't paying attention" Uryuu sighed

"Well as long as we know whose fault it was" Ichigo replied

Sakura frowned and stood up "I think we should just keep moving" she suggested standing up and walking down the hall way which was now the only path they could take.

"At least this path looks safe enough" Uryuu said

"Yeah but where the hell are we going?" Ichigo asked

"How should I know?" Uryuu asked

"We've been walking a while now" Chad said

"We'll have to run into something sooner or later" Sakura said putting her arm over her stomach; she usually done that when she really needed to think.

"Not so sure about that we haven't come across a single sign of life knowing our luck this'll be a one way road to nowhere" Ichigo said

"Just keep your guard up" Uryuu warned

"Don't worry about me" Ichigo said as they continued to walk "I'm ready for anything"

He felt his foot sink into the floor where he stepped and looking down he saw a tile was deeper into the floor.

"Uh oh" Ichigo froze and so did everyone else

They started to look around for more traps; Ichigo smiled slightly but it wasn't a humorous smile so much as a oh god what now smile or oh god we're gonna die smile

"Bummer" he said

"It looks like it's the same kind of trigger as the last one" Uryuu observed

There was another rumbling "Wait a minute that sound" Uryuu said smiling humorously as well "What the hell is it?" Sakura asked

"I hope it's not what I think it is" they were all looking in front of them now from where the noise was coming and a giant boulder came rolling towards them but they just stayed in place smiling in terror.

"We're screwed" Ichigo stated

"How amazing all the traps they set are so simplistic" Uryuu said pushing his glasses up

"I'm glad you find them so impressive" Ichigo said getting mad suddenly

"I never said I was impressed" Uryuu said

Chad walked passed all of them towards the boulder "Where are you going?" Ichigo asked

"Just leave this to me" Chad said calmly; Sakura was actually convinced he was the only sane one among them that was until he decided to put himself in front of a huge boulder. Raising his hand to meet the boulder it started to push him back on his feet.

"Chad!" Ichigo called

Chad struggled with it for a while and then pulling back he punched the boulder with the same hand he used to stop it and it crumbled into rubble.

"Nice work Chad" Ichigo said impressed

Uryuu pointed at Ichigo "Nice huh; I told you to keep your guard up but you wouldn't listen"

Ichigo brushed him off "Yeah; yeah whatever it was my entire fault you happy?"

Sakura shook her head and sighed; if they kept going on like this they would be dead before they even reached Orihime.

"Hey don't ignore me; I'm not just gonna let it go this time" Uryuu said as Ichigo walked passed him and up to Sakura placing a hand on her shoulder  
"You ok?" he asked

Sakura nodded "Don't worry about me" she said calmly and almost coldly

"What's the matter with you?" Ichigo asked

"Nothing" Sakura snapped but then she suddenly froze stiff "Oh god"

There was a noise and then looking back they all saw a huge hand on the ceiling coming towards them and something looking at them around the corner.

"Who are you?" it asked

Ichigo smirked and grabbed a hold of his sword "Oh you finally showed up" but before he could draw it Uryuu grabbed the back of his kimono and dragged Ichigo away before running with him; Chad and Sakura were running as well.

"Wait what are we running away for; we've been trying to flush one out and we finally did! We need to get back there and beat some answers out of that guy!"

"Are you crazy?" Sakura asked glaring at him slightly "What do we do if we're fighting in a small space like that and the walls collapse around us?"

"Who cares if the walls collapse it's not gonna make any damn difference" Ichigo said as he was being pulled still

"You must work really hard to be this dumb" Uryuu said "Didn't you notice anything while we were walking around? We haven't passed a single window this entire time" he pulled Ichigo to the front so he could see him "So why do you think that is because this corridor is underground you dummy!"

"Who's cares if we're underground?" Ichigo asked

Chad ran passed them

"Fighting in this area isn't a good idea we've gotta find an area with more open space that's unless you want us to be buried alive!" Uryuu explained

"Guys look" Chad said running forward there was a bright light

As everyone ran through it they saw they were in a huge room now "It's some kind of hall" Chad said

"Alright you don't have any problems with this place do you?" Ichigo asked smirking slightly

Sakura looked around with Uryuu and they all spotted a stair case "If we're lucky it will connect to the outside; I'll go check" Uryuu said running over to it

"Wait" Sakura said "Don't go that way-

A hollow appeared in front of Uryuu; his mask was partly off his face though but only his right eye was showing and he was floating in the air.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked

Looking back the other one that was chasing them appeared as well and it was huge

"It's another trap" Uryuu said "Looks like they've got us sandwiched"

"Hey just shut up will you" Ichigo said annoyed

They all looked at the two beings "Are these arancars to?" Sakura asked

"These sure look a lot different than like the ones we were dealing with back in the world other living; uh it doesn't matter to me what they are you guys just stand back and watch I'll handle-

Before Ichigo could finish his sentence Chad had elbowed him in the side of his face and sent him flying to the other side of the room but Sakura sensed it wasn't intended to hurt him.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ichigo asked

"You're the one who needs to just stand back and watch" Chad said

"This time" Uryuu said

"We're going to handle it" Chad said

Sakura also started walking over to Ichigo and then leaned back against the wall with her arms crossed to look at them.

"What's with you guys?" Ichigo asked

"Take it easy" Uryuu said "You're gonna wanna save your strength when we find Orihime besides I've spend some time with Kisuke and he's been informing me about to arancars apparently the group that Grimmjow brought with him to the world of the living was a mixture of gillyons and adjuchas class arancars. When a menos becomes an arancar it doesn't always take on a humanoid form but only the most powerful class the vasto Lorde's take on a human shape one hundred percent of the time and as for the other two class even if they do become arancars many of them won't take on a humanoid form" Ichigo started walking forward "Also the lower they're intelligence the more likely the resemble and ordinary hollow"

Sakura looked at the two arancars and narrowed her eyes despite what Uryuu said she wasn't too convinced when looking at them she knew that looks could be deceiving and she wasn't liking the feeling around them there was something more but nothing that she guessed the two of them couldn't handle.

Suddenly the huge arancar threw his fists at Uryuu but he dodged it and as Chad was about to run up to him there were these beams shot at him before he was able to get there and he avoided them as well.

"That is unforgivable" The smaller hollow said "Demoura is one thing but you're implying that I Aisslinger have low intelligence absolutely unforgivable"

"Shut you face Aisslinger; stop acting like you're all high and mighty and smarter than me" snapped Demoura

Uryuu jumped in front of him and aimed his arrow at the arancar but before he could fire a second shot the arancar raised his hand and nearly hit him.

"Chad; Uryuu" Ichigo shouted in worry reaching for his sword again but a dainty hand grabbed his wrist; he looked down at Sakura who shook her head.

"Sakura" Ichigo looked at her in disbelief

"Don't do that Ichigo; you have to believe in your friends" she said looking at him seriously

"But they're-

"Strong" Sakura finished for him "They have powers to and they can handle themselves against arancars as well; they've been training as well so just let them handle it remember what they said" She pointed out

Sakura let go of his wrist and looked back at the two friends who had swapped their arancar opponents which was a good strategy because now Uryuu could match the arancars speed and Chad could match the arancars strength.

Ichigo watched as Uryuu got hit again and he was going to try and help them but Sakura stopped him again "Don't do it" she said "Unless you want them to punch you into the wall"

"But Sakura" Ichigo started

Sakura didn't so much as waver or smile at him like she would usually do "Stop it Ichigo" she said

"What?" Ichigo looked at her strangely ignoring the battle going on again "What's the matter with you; you've been acting so cold with me ever since we've gotten here"

Sakura turned to glare at him "What are you talking about; this is how I always act or haven't you noticed?"

Ichigo stared at her "What brought that on?" he hissed

There was another loud crash while fighting but the two seemed to ignore it since there were enough bombs going off between the two of them and sparks were flying as well.

"Hey come on what's up with you?" Ichigo asked

Sakura turned her whole body away from him and crossed her arms "Nothing" she stated

Ichigo looked like he was about to blow he really didn't get girls at all he wondered why Sakura was acting so it couldn't be her time of the month that was making her so bipolar right?

"What are you on your period or something?" he asked bluntly making her eyes snapped open but she didn't turn to face him

"No"

"Then what's the matter look I won't know unless you tell-

Someone coughed getting their attention the two of them turned to look at Uryuu who seemed to have been watching them for some time now.

"I hate to break up your lovers quarrel but we have to get out of here" he said

After they were fighting they had caused a lot of damage to the building and therefore it was starting to fall on top of them and if they didn't get out soon they were going to be buried alive.

"How are we supposed to get out of here?" Sakura asked

"You don't" they all looked at the smaller arancar that was still alive it seemed "No one will be leaving now that's how the room was designed we're the guardians of this portal and out orders are very clear anyone who tries to get to Las Nochas through this room without permission has to be eliminated if we fail the sentence is death we will all be crushed this is the type of enemy you face"

Sakura pointed to a stair case "That way" she said running up and everyone started to follow her out as the roof started to collapse. Sakura made it to the end of the stair case and up but before Ichigo and the others could do the same there was a sudden burst of sand.

* * *

Everyone came out coughing out dry sand and emptied their clothes of all the sand and dusted themselves off.

"I can't believe we all made it out of there" Ichigo said emptying his shihakusho "Man do I feel gross"

They all finished and looked around the desert like area; the sky was black constantly with a crescent moon only shining and a few trees with no leaves on and endless sand dunes.

"So this is Hueco Mundo" Sakura observed

"It seems like a pretty lonely place doesn't it? There's nothing here" Ichigo said

"There are some plants around but they seemed to be withered" Chad observed

"They're not plants" Uryuu said breaking a piece of "There some kind of crystal"

"Look" Sakura called them pointing into the distance shocking everyone

"What is that thing?" Uryuu asked starring at it

There was a huge out line and shadow of a huge building in the distance "Looks like a palace" Uryuu commented

"Or a fortress" Sakura added

"It must be Las Nochas" Uryuu added

"It's enormous" Ichigo stared

"I'm not even sure how far away it is" Chad said softly

"Well at least seeing it from a distance gives us an idea of its size" Sakura said but looking at it now it was going to be very hard to find Orihime in that if she was in there somewhere she just hoped she would be able to sense her spiritual pressure around because when there was a lot of people with strong spiritual pressure released at the same time it makes it harder to track down one.

"We should assume that's where they're keeping Orihime" Ichigo said

"You're probably right" Uryuu agreed "There isn't any other place they could hide her"

"Let's run for it the way this place works we'll get dragged into another fight if we don't move fast" Ichigo said and they all started to run towards the giant palace.

Sakura frowned slightly as she ran; she had the feeling that they already knew they were here but she couldn't place how.


	17. Chapter 17

**I know I haven't updated in a while but I've been busy with my other story also there will soon be a non-cross over fanfiction but for now please enjoy this chapter**

* * *

Sosuke Aizen entered the meeting room where his ten espada were already seated and waiting; after getting everyone a cup of tea he began to explain the reason for the meeting. Everyone had heard about the twenty second entrances being destroyed but it was so far away from the palace it was hardly a cause for any panic not like they would've minded if the enemy had broken into the throne room

"It appears we are under attack" he said seating himself in the front of the espada "Begin the presentation Kanimei"

Tosin flipped a switch and in the middle of the table a bright light started to shine projecting the desert where Sakura; Ichigo; Uryuu and Chad were running together to get to the palace.

"There are four intruders trying to break into Las Nochas" Aizen said "Uryuu Ishida; Yasutoro Sado; Ichigo Kurosaki and Sakura Haruno"

Grimmjow's eyes went wide at the sight of Ichigo and Sakura; Aizen watched the projection calmly.

"You mean these are our enemies" the espada Aaroniero asked

"Ridiculous" said the espada Baraggan "When you said we were under attack I assumed it was some kind of army these are just a bunch of kids"

"I don't see what the fuss is all about where's the danger?" asked the espada Szayelaporro

"I wouldn't underestimate these so called kids" Aizen said placing his tea down on the table "Others have made the same mistake the three boys are humans once labelled Ryoka some time ago four of them broke into the soul society and successfully took on the thirteen court guard squads"

"Is that so then where is the fourth one?" asked Zommari

"That would be" Aizen smiled "Orihime Inoue"

* * *

Ichigo landed on the sand in complete exhaustion along with Uryuu and Chad sitting there panting; they hadn't run into any trouble other than a whirl wind which they got out of safely thanks to Uryuu and then it was back off to running but for what felt like hours they had finally reached a limit and had to stop and it didn't looked like they were getting any closer to Las Nochas. Sakura however was more than relieved now because it didn't feel like they were being watched anymore however that wasn't a reason to drop their guard. Sakura calmly sat down on the sand; she didn't appear the least bit out of breath but she hadn't used much of her spirit energy which was why she was usually running behind all of them.

"Dammit it seems like we've been running across this dessert for hours and no matter what we're not any closer to that structure" Ichigo cursed

"It's all perspective" Chad said "The trees in front of it look as small as needles for the trees to look that small from this distance and the palace itself to look so big in contrast we have to believe it's unbelievably huge"

"You sure it's not some kind of mirage?" Ichigo asked

"It's not a mirage" Sakura stated "There's no way we'd be able to see a mirage here"

"Shall I explain the concept of a mirage for you Ichigo?" Uryuu asked

Ichigo frowned "Don't start with me!"

He looked to the side and saw a small lizard like creature coming towards him but it had a hollow mask on Ichigo watched curiously as it just scurried away.

"What's the matter?" Uryuu asked

"You know when we first got here I thought we discovered that this was a world where nothing was able to live but there are some little animals here even though they're all hollows now wait don't hollows have to constantly eat human souls just to survive?" he asked

Sakura sat down in front of him and Chad and Uryuu on Ichigo's side as they listened to him "I wonder what these little guys end up eating to stay alive?"

"Here in Hueco Mundo" Uryuu started "Reishi is highly concentrated throughout the air that's good for the smaller hollows I imagine they can absorb it just by breathing"

"There's reishi in the air come on how could you even know that?" Ichigo asked in disbelief furrowing his eyebrows

"Quincy's make use of the ambient reishi when they fight" Uryuu explained "The higher the density of reishi the stronger we are"

Sakura crept over to Chad and saw him holding out his hands to the sand and it actually started to move.

"If I can get the hang of this" Uryuu said "Then I should be able to fight better than in the world of the living or even in the soul society"

Ichigo cocked an eyebrow and smirked "Oh well that's interesting you say you function better when there's a lot of reishi …he sure sounds like a hollow to me" he said looking over at Sakura and Chad.

Uryuu stood up "Excuse me soul reaper are practically the same!"

"I'm not I'm different" Ichigo said

"Yeah right" Uryuu snapped at him "Just you; Rukia had to go back to the soul society for a while before she could regain her powers"

"Rukia's just weird like that" Ichigo said casually

Suddenly there was a rumbling sound and from the other side they saw a huge hollow like worm appear from the earth with two other arancars and they were chasing after a little girl who was wearing a green cloak.

"A human" Ichigo asked

"No way there can't be another human living here" Uryuu said

"We'll deal with that later we've gotta save her" Ichigo said grasping his sword he ran after them Sakura on the other hand didn't; she wasn't feeling any killing intent coming from these arancars.

However it was a little too late to say anything when Ichigo hit the first arancar with his sword but not to cut luckily but it did send him flying back. This arancar looked stranger though; he had almost a clown like mask and was wearing a yellow outfit while the other was wearing someone you could barely consider a covering for pants and was purple.

"My brother!" shouted the other hollow but then Uryuu and Chad were getting ready to attack it and Chad grabbed a hold of the worm; Sakura ran up over to them but then the little girl started speaking  
"Stop it!" she cried out in alarm "Leave them alone!"

Sakura came over to the little girl as Ichigo and the others looked over at them in surprise

"What we do to you stop picking on us" the girl cried and lifted up her hood and they saw a hollow mask on her head but it was slightly cracked.

"A mask; then are you a hollow?" Ichigo asked

"Please leave us alone" the girl and all of her other hollow friends were bowing now in front of them "We never thought that our game of eternal tag would cause such a misunderstanding" she smiled

Uryuu; Ichigo and Chad all stared at them in disbelief "You mean you actually play a game called eternal tag?" Uryuu asked

"There's nothing else to do here in Hueco Mundo to pass the time" she said

"Eternal tag but you were crying while you were running away from them" Ichigo stated

"Sure; Nel is a masochist and it's no fun for Nel unless Nel's chased to the point where Nell starts to cry" she smiled brightly which was a bit off putting considering what she just said

"Who would teach you a word like that?" Sakura snapped slightly

"Wait I'm confused Nel is your name right?" Uryuu asked  
"That's right Nel is an arancar" she smiled

"An arancar" Ichigo's eyes widened  
"Nel sure is" she smile "Oh and these are Nel's brothers" she introduce to the one wearing the loin cloth

"I'm Nel's older brother Pesche" he said

"I'm the oldest brother" the other one said "Dondochakka"

Chad looked at them in disbelief at the mention brother "And this guy here is our pet" Nel said pointing to the worm "He's name is Bowabowa"

Even after the introduction Ichigo just looked more confused than ever "Wait; wait; wait; wait; wait; wait"

"You have a question?" Nel asked

"Since when do arancars all of a sudden have siblings and pets?" Ichigo asked staring down at the girl

"What do you mean arancars have always had those" Nel said frowning slightly

"When I met Nel I thought she was so cute that I decided to become her big brother you know what I'm talking about?" Dondochakka Explained

"Yup same here" Pesche said rubbing the back of his head

Nel laughed and did the same "But then that means that you aren't really siblings" Ichigo pointed out and they all visibly froze and then went into a state of horror

"If these aren't Nel's siblings then what are they then?" Nel asked

"Not her brother what are you talking about?" Dondochakka asked

Sakura sighed and shook her head as she walked up over to Ichigo and lightly smacked him on his arm "You just couldn't let that one go"

"Well excuse me" Ichigo frowned slightly seemed that he and Sakura still weren't on very friendly terms at this point.

"Please ignore Ichigo you guys are siblings" Sakura said with a smile attempting to undo Ichigo's damage again

Ichigo bent down slightly to look at Nel "You guys sure you're really arancars?"

"Hey what are you trying to say?" Nel asked

"Ichigo" Sakura moaned face palming

"Can't you see this here?" Nel asked pointing to her head "A beautifully craft arancar mask"

"It's just that you see different from the arancars that came to the world of the living" Ichigo said

"Oh but of course we do" Nel said "The arancars that went to the world of the living are called numeros"

"What are they?" Ichigo asked

"Numeros are the guys that are even stronger than the menos that is before they turned into arancars all the numeros can be identified by two digit numbers and they serve directly under the espada" Nel said

"They sure have it good" Pesche cut in

"You're telling me" Dondochakka said "It just aint right"

"Numeros are combat experts they're an elite fighting force!" Nel said pumping her fist in the air "There's no comparison to them and garbage bugs like us" her brothers nodded

Everyone looked disdained at what Nel pointed at them "You've got a lot of nerve saying we don't look like arancars when you look even less like arancars then we do" she smiled "You two don't have a mask and you have a black Kimono" Nel said looking at Sakura and Ichigo "You're dressed more like a….."

"Soul reapers you know what I mean?" Dondochakka said

"Yeah like soul reapers" Pesche agreed and then it dawned on them suddenly as they froze again like rocks

Nel started shaking again "What are you guys anyway?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki substitute soul reaper" Ichigo said quickly placing his hands on his hips

"Sakura Haruno also substitute soul reaper" she replied

"Uryuu Ishida I'm a Quincy"

"Yasutoro Sado and I'm human"

The four arancars started to visibly freak out and asked questions about what they were gonna do and then they pointed at them "You know what this means…you're the bad guys!"

Ichigo stared at them in disbelief "You mean you didn't have any idea who we were?" he asked

"That's right" Nel said "Because you didn't say who you were"

"You should've told us from the start!" Pesche said

Sakura's sweat dropped with all of the commotion they didn't have any time for introductions until now.

"Bad guys I can't believe it" Dondochakka said

"Nel is sure the bad guys are gonna kill us!" she panicked

Ichigo stared at them and slouched slightly "No…we're not gonna kill you"

The three arancars suddenly gathered in a circle and started talking Sakura sighed great they were now terrified of them and she had a feeling that the looks they were getting meant that this wasn't going to end well for them. They stopped talking and looked at them.

"Oh Mr and Misses soul reaper if you're not bad guys then play with us" Nel said and suddenly jumped towards Ichigo "On your mark get ready…" she grabbed his sword and then jumping to Sakura grabbed hers as well "Tag you're it!" and then started running

Sakura watched as Nel started running away with Ichigo's sword "Hey come back here!" Ichigo called her

Nel laughed "Try to catch Nel and try to beat Nel and make Nel cry!"

"Get back here!" Sakura ordered running after him

Ichigo clenched his fists "Why you-

Then Dondochakka and Pesche started to join in as well and ran after them. Once Ichigo was close enough it didn't take long for Sakura to catch up to him

"What are you guys doing?" Ichigo asked turning around

"This is a game of eternal tag" Pesche said

"We're gonna die you good so get ready" Dondochakka said

Ichigo and Sakura started running faster and Nel was running with tears in her tears in her eyes now but smiling while Uryuu and Chad watched.

"Wow" Uryuu said starring at them "They sure got their zampakuto stolen easily"

"Do you think they wanted to play eternal tag with them?" Chad asked

Suddenly the sand started to rise and the arancars pet hollow began to chase Chad and Uryuu around.

"Why's he chasing us to?" Uryuu asked while running  
"That's what I want to know" Chad replied

Nel ran with Ichigo and Sakura's sword around the desert while Ichigo and Sakura chased after her and Dondochakka and Pesche chased after them and Uryuu and Chad were chased by Bowabowa right behind them in a line.

"Looks like we got new players know what I'm talking about?" Dondochakka asked happily

"This is the best way to play eternal tag the more people you have the more fun it gets" Pesche said "Just like rock paper scissors"

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked as he ran "Rock paper scissors is not more fun with more people and this isn't very fun either!"

Sakura had gotten a bit ahead of Ichigo and was in between Nel and Ichigo now as they ran. Sakura reached down for Nel and was about to take her sword when Nel fell and tripped over a tree stump and because Sakura was so close she fell as well but turned at the last moment to make sure she didn't fall on top of the arancar girl.

When Ichigo noticed this he quickly grabbed Nel in one arm and Sakura in the other before jumping to the side as Pesche and Dondochakka fell as well.

While Chand and Uryuu were close enough to avoid falling and jumped over it over to Ichigo and Sakura and then there was a huge crash and Bowabowa fell over as well.

"Oh man that was close" Ichigo said still keeping Nel and Sakura in his arms on both of his sides.

Ichigo put Nel down "Hey can you stand?" he asked her still keeping Sakura in his arms

"Wow; Nel can't believe you saved her" Nel said looking up at Ichigo and Sakura

"Of course" Ichigo said crouching down with Sakura "You would've been squashed under that giant arancar" he said finishing off

He then turned to Sakura "You alright?"

"Yeah; now can you let go of me?" Sakura asked averting her eyes from him and flushing slightly under his gaze that made him wonder why

Ichigo frowned unconsciously tightening his grip on Sakura...wait why was her stomach so soft and big? She wasn't fat; she didn't have any around her waist "Why don't you tell me why you're so mad at me first?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him "Do you really think now is a good time?"

Ichigo looked confused but ten realised just where his hand landed; it was a wonder why it was so soft there and figured must've grabbed her chest when he picked her up in such a rush.

Ichigo quickly let go and blushed "S-sorry" he said

Sakura nodded "its fine thanks" she then looked over at Nel and placed a hand on her mask "Nothing broken?"

Nel nodded "Nel's fine" she said

Sakura and Ichigo smiled "That's good you should try to be more careful"

"You're really one to talk you tripped as well" Ichigo muttered; Sakura looked over at him before turning back.

"Now I'm getting the silent treatment?" he asked

Sakura and Ichigo picked up their swords not noticing the look Nel was giving them "Well we gotta get going now" Ichigo said turning around "Later"

"Goodbye" Sakura waved them off

Just as they got to Uryuu and Chad they heard Nel's voice call "Hey are you running away?" she asked

Ichigo turned around and looked at her "You're just gonna run away after what you did to us?" Nel asked

Ok now even Sakura was confused "What?"

Nel started to look like she was about to cry and she began to whimper; Ichigo sighed "Look we're in a hurry; we can't stay and play with you go run around with your friends and play some more tag" Ichigo said

Now Nel was crying and then she started wailing "That's so mean you were both just toying with Nel's feelings but you should've just killed Nel instead it would've been much less painful for Nel-

"Why does this crap always happen to me?" Ichigo asked slightly agitated

Sakura ignored him and walked over to Nel; when she noticed Sakura she stopped wailing but was still sniffing. Sakura wiped away her tears with her hands.

"Since you asked for death I shall grant you your wish" a voice suddenly boomed out of now where; the sand began to rise and with it a huge hollow that appeared to be made of it. Sakura clutched Nel to her chest protectively a huge hollow started to form from the sand with a huge mask.

"That's Ruruganga" Nel stuttered "The guardian of the white sand"

"I was just informed by Las Nochas that we had intruders I never would've guessed they had you garbage bugs acting as spies unforgivable I'm going to turn you all into desert sand"

"It's not like that" Nel started to say

"Stand aside" Ichigo said walking up to the guardian "It doesn't look like this guy's playing around" he took out his sword and used his Getsuga Tensho at him hitting him in his face splitting him in half.

"Now he's toast" Ichigo said

"That was a sneak attack" Nel pointed out

"No it wasn't" Ichigo said

Sakura gasped and looked up "Ichigo!" they shouted

Looking up he saw that the hollow started to revive itself "You won't even confess to attempting a sneak attack for this you intruders must be punished"

"What are you trying to pull it wasn't a sneak attack and how were you able to regenerate yourself so fast?" Ichigo asked

"He's made out of sand" Nel said

Raising his hand Ruroganga threw his huge hand at Ichigo making him doge him; this time he threw a punch at the sand and a huge whirl wind started to form around them. Sakura flash stepped away from them quickly before it could swallow her and Nel. Yet with another huge swipe with his hand three more whirl winds formed and Ichigo used his Getsuga Tensho on the hollow again but he just regenerated once more even after splitting his head in the middle.

"It's useless" he said as the whirlwinds came towards the gang making them all back up "Did you think you could defeat me with such a weak attack?"

"This is impossible"

"Ichigo; let's combined attacks" Chad suggested

"Don't bother" Sakura said looking at them "He's just regenerate you need to think of a way to stop him from using the sand and then attack"

However they had already used their attacks on him when she finished talking and this time he didn't come back.

"Sorry what were you saying Sakura?" Ichigo asked smugly

Sakura glared at him and muttered "Idiot" under her breath

Suddenly the sand under them started to sink into a circle of sand; Sakura held tightly onto Nel trying to get out.

"Nel don't let go" Sakura told her

Nel nodded "Nel won't let go"

"Dammit" Ichigo looked down at his sinking form "Isn't there something we could do? Nel does he have any weaknesses?"

"He does have one weakness but Nel can't tell a bad guy like you what it is" she whispered

Ichigo looked like he was about to snap and glared at her "Ok then tell me" Sakura said

"It's water" Nel told her

"Water" Ichigo asked

"Water in a desert huh?" Chad asked

They continued to sink and then the hollow appeared again "I'm going to swallow you all up in one foul swoop"

He opened his huge mouth wide and came towards them but then there was a sudden flash of light and his form was frozen solid. And the sand stopped sucking them in as the hollows form fell back and shattered into tiny ice fragments.

"That could only be" Sakura muttered turning around her eyes widened

"Rukia; Renji" Ichigo stared in disbelief

There they were standing on a sand dune; Rukia and Renji wearing brown cloaks; Ichigo started running over to them. Nel clutched onto Sakura "More soul reapers; more of the bad guys" she said

Rukia and Renji jumped off the sand dune and Ichigo started running towards them in excitement.

"Rukia; Renji" he said "You guys are here"

'Oh boy this is not going to go well' Sakura thought

And right on time she was right when Ichigo was close enough Rukia punched Ichigo in his face and then hit Renji's hand to swap and He punched Ichigo as well.

Uryuu and Chad stared at Ichigo lying on the ground "Are you alright Ichigo?" He asked uncertainly

"No I'm not" Ichigo said

"You idiot" Rukia snapped "Why did you go to Hueco Mundo by yourself why didn't you couldn't you have just waited for us to come back and help you?" she asked she then looked at Sakura "Why didn't you stop him?"

"Um well….."

"Because we had no idea whether you guys were coming back-

"Of course we were no matter what" Rukia shouted "Renji and I were planning on coming back from the very beginning why couldn't you wait for us? Why couldn't you trust us?" she looked at him "I thought we were supposed to be your friends"

Ichigo looked down "Yeah you're right"

"Sorry" Sakura said coming over to them

"Well as long as you both understand now" Rukia said standing up "Please don't make me confirm something as silly as that ever again"

Ichigo and Sakura smiled; Sakura helped him up with the hand that wasn't holding Nel

"That aside" Rukia said turning her attention to the arancars who visibly froze "Who are they?"

"Um well it's like this" Sakura started

After getting the introductions cleared everyone got ready to start leaving again and head back off to Las Nochas. Sakura had put Nel down and went to join her friends as they continued on.

"Hey wait a minute Saki; Itsigo" she called

"It's Ichigo" he said turning around "And where did Saki come from that's barely even close to her name!"

"If you wait for us Nel will guide you to Las Nochas"

* * *

So in the end all of them ended up riding on Bowabowa making their way to Las Nochas; Sakura; Ichigo and Nel were in the front Nel had seemed to grow rather attached to both Sakura and Ichigo in this short amount of time; she was currently sitting in Ichigo's lap. Sakura couldn't help but feel that there was something off about this girl though. She looked like she didn't have any power but from what she could feel Nel had more power than all of them yet she couldn't put her finger on why she felt this though.

Nel was looking at Rukia "Uh why is she staring at me like that?" Rukia asked

Sakura shrugged

"I don't know" Ichigo said

"May I ask you what your relationship is with Itsigo?" she asked

"You're pretty popular with the ladies" Renji teased

"Just shut up" Ichigo snapped

"But Nel thought that Saki and Itsigo were together" Nel said

"Why would you think that?" Rukia asked curiously; Ichigo visibly tensed hoping that she wouldn't….

Nel pointed at Sakura's chest

"Nel saw Itsigo squeezing Saki here and Nel thought that only people together done stuff like that!"

Ichigo and Sakura blushed and looked down closing her eyes 'How embarrassing' she thought

"Wow Ichigo never really pegged you as a pervert" Renji stated

Ichigo glared at him "I am not a pervert it was an accident"

"Oh so you did touch her breasts?" Rukia commented "Honestly have you no shame taking advantage-

"I wasn't" he snapped

"Yeah right" Renji muttered

Ichigo calmed down and looked over at Rukia and Renji "Hey by the way where did you guys get those cloaks you pick them up from somewhere?"

Rukia clutched onto hers "They're gifts; I was told that Hueco Mundo deserts have a rough terrain and you need protection?"

"Who said that?" Sakura asked finally calming her blush down

"My brother" Rukia blushed

Thinking of the strict; serious captain Ichigo; Chad and Uryuu started to tremble

Ichigo pointed at them with a shaking finger "Does that mean that Byakuya sent you all the way out here to find us?"

"Actually it was Kisuke who opened the gate to Hueco Mundo" Renji explained "But it was my captain who got us to the world of the living"

"My brother said the only order received was to bring us back to the soul society" Rukia said looking down

Ichigo smirked and looked to the side "Yeah Byakuya did that huh sure has gotten rather soft"

"He also said that it must be unpleasant for the enemy to have that dingy boy wondering around" Rukia commented and Sakura couldn't hold back a snicker

Ichigo glared at nothing and raised his fists muttering 'That bastard' before lowering his fists hard which hurt their ride.

"Ichigo what are you doing punching our ride?" Uryuu shouted

"That's right don't pick on Bowabowa" Nel said

"Something's coming" Sakura shouted looking ahead of her there was a loud rumbling noise and the sand began to sink in

"What is it now?" Ichigo asked in frustration

The sand began to rise and the same hollow appeared once more before them.

"Oh crap" Sakura muttered

"He's still alive we're gonna have some problems with this guy" Renji stated calmly

"It can't be" Rukia said coming forward "My ice shattered him into a thousand pieces"

"Stop right there you'll go no further"

"He's made of sand so it makes sense for there to be more than one of him" Nel said holding onto Sakura's shoulders

Rukia got out her sword and used Sode no Shirayuki but when she put her sword into the ground it was only then she realised she wasn't actually on the ground but still on their ride. Making Bowabowa started wiggling around in pain.

"Rukia what are you doing?" Renji asked trying to hold onto him like the rest of the group

"Sorry" Rukia said pulling her sword out "I got too excited"

"You hurt him lady" Nel said pointing at her after jumping out of Sakura's arms

Then the hollow created another large sink hold and everyone started to sink; Rukia got flung off of Bowabowa and Sakura noticed.

"Rukia!" she shouted in alarm

She started to sink into the sand; Sakura jumped over to her and tried to get to her but Ichigo saw her and when she was half way there he grabbed her and they both went sinking into the sand separate from the rest of them. Soon they all sunk into the sand and without a trace.

**Please Review **


	18. Chapter 18

**Alright dear readers I know it's been a while since I've updated so I hope this makes up for it; here's another chapter. **

**Read and Enjoy**

* * *

"Damn" Ichigo muttered as they continued to fall at such speeds it was hard to breathe or move; Ichigo was clutching Sakura to his chest as they fell. Sakura opened her eyes and looked ahead before noticing something moving in the area they were falling towards

"What's that?" she muttered but didn't have time to think when they both ended up falling.

Sakura groaned slightly but the fall wasn't as hard as expected then she remembered that Ichigo was the one holding her.

"Ichigo are you alight?" Sakura asked as she got off of him and helped him sit up

"Yeah" he groaned in pain as Sakura helped him up; he started looking around "Where are we?"

Sakura shrugged "I think we landed underground somewhere" Sakura said looking around there was nothing but hard rock beneath them and trees like the ones in the desert. Sakura looked up there was no sky. She didn't like the feeling she was getting; all around her was the spiritual pressures of hollows and every time she felt like they were coming their way it didn't; it made her anxious.

"Hey" Ichigo called "You alright?"

Sakura nodded "I'm fine Ichigo" she stood up "Come on we should try and find the others; I think Rukia's out here on her own"

"What makes you think that?" Ichigo asked following after Sakura

"She got thrown off and sunk that's why I jumped I might have gotten to her if you hadn't gotten in my way" Sakura commented making Ichigo frown

"Hey I saved you" he said "Besides we don't know if Rukia's really missing she might be with the others besides she's also kinda a light weight so maybe another possibility is she just got blown away"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him "She's not a kite"

* * *

Rukia as a matter of fact had landed somewhere in the forest as well but she was attacked by hollows however a mysterious stranger had come along and helped her but now she was being carried back away from him somewhere and she didn't know where while Chad; Renji and Uryuu along with the arancars started searching for them after they all safely landed; Nel had told them that she wasn't sure of any way out of the forest because she's only heard rumours about it. So for the time being all they could all try to do for now was try to find each other and stay alive and then after that they would be able to figure out how to escape.

* * *

About half an hour later now Ichigo and Sakura have been walking and finding nothing so far at all other than a bunch of hollows which they took care of easily but it was the others they were still worrying about.

"What's with this place; why are there so many damn hollows here?" Ichigo said looking around making sure that there weren't more.

Sakura sighed and closed her eyes trying to focus on finding everyone else's spiritual pressures and she was able to find them but they were rather further than she expected; it also didn't seem like she was alone.

"HEY CHAD; URYUU; RENJI; RUKIA; NEL CAN YOU GUYS HERE ME?!" Ichigo suddenly shouted

Sakura slapped her hand over his mouth "Hey; what are you trying to get us killed?" she hissed as he struggled to get her hand away from his mouth

"What was that for?" Ichigo asked "I figured that if I yelled they might here us or give us some sign about where we are"

Sakura shook her head and that just seemed to tick Ichigo off "Hey at least I'm doing something it's better than walking in circles"

"We're not walking in circles; I can sense everyone spiritual pressures so I'm going in the direction I feel it" Sakura told him dryly

"But then how come we're going so slow if you know where they are and how that even possible if is I can't sense them?" he asked

Sakura sighed "My powers is something to be questioned Ichigo even I don't get all of it but I can sense their spiritual pressures even at this distance but it's not just there's I'm sensing there are hundreds of hollows here no thousands and with the spiritual pressure bouncing around it's hard for me to keep track of them if I'm speeding towards them" she said "Once I can keep a fixed point on all of them we can speed this up alright"

"Oh" Ichigo said; Sakura rubbed her temples tiredly and dizzy she was sensing everyone now alright and Rukia was with someone else and it didn't feel like a hollow to her but she didn't know how that was possible however this place was taking effect on her.

"Are you sure you're alright though?" Ichigo asked concerned

Nodding her head swiftly she continued to walk "I'm fine" however Sakura felt like she was about to pass out

"_Sakura" _

Sakura narrowed her eyes as she tried to focus on finding the others; she knew where they were and yet it seemed that the more she tried to home in on them the worse her head felt.

"_Sakura" _

She tried to shake her mind of the voice that was making bells ring in her head

"_Sakura" _

Sakura felt herself getting light headed as she walked and then her vision blurred before she felt herself falling and everything went black; the last thing she saw was Ichigo shouting out her name.

* * *

"Why'd you attack me?" Rukia asked the soul reaper walking away from her just moments ago after saving her and bringing her to his hide out and giving her a short introduction that he was from the soul society and his name was Ashido he went and attacked her and he would've killed her but he drew back

"I was testing your strength" he said

Rukia looked over at the soul reaper; he was wearing a hollow's mask and fur over his body but it wasn't like Ichigo's and Sakura's this hollow had been killed by him.

"For what reason" Rukia demanded

"This forest is vicious" he replied "The weak cannot survive here"

"Ashido" Rukia called walking out to him as he exited the cave they were resigning in

"Someone's fighting I can sense it" he said

Rukia gasped "Its Ichigo's"

"They're recklessly exposing their position they're going to draw the Menos right to them" Ashido getting ready to jump

"I'm coming to" Rukia said

"No stay here" Ashido ordered

"They're my friends" Rukia stated "I came here with them; we fight together"

"What's your name?" he asked

Rukia looked a bit shocked in all the excitement he told her his name but she never got the chance to tell him

"I'm Rukia Kuchiki" and before she could explain the rest he started to take off and Rukia followed after him

* * *

"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo shouted swinging his sword at the Menos and killing it successfully while holding an unconscious Sakura under his one arm.

More Menos appeared and started to fire their Cero at him making him run from them. Sakura was still unconscious Ichigo didn't know what happened though; one minute she was tracking her friends and the next she fell.

While Ichigo and the others were running for their lives Uryuu; Chad and Renji and Bowabowa had lost Nel; Pesche and Dondochakka in the commotion and lost them somewhere unknowingly to them that they were being held hostage by a couple of hollows with immense spiritual pressure. So now instead of finding the others they just lost more members things were not looking up for any of them while Ashido and Rukia were trying to find everyone as well but instead were being attacked by another powerful hollow. Things were looking very bleak for them.

"Hey Sakura wake up" a familiar voice called her and after a while Sakura's form eventually began to stir.

After Ichigo managed to get away from all of the Menos he had found a cave to take shelter in for a while until Sakura regained consciousness. Ichigo smiled in relief when he saw her open her eyes slowly; Sakura sat up carefully and rubbed them.

"What happened?" she whispered

"You tell me" Ichigo sighed "You just passed out all of a sudden; don't do that you scared the crap out of me"

"Sorry" Sakura muttered and sighed "Dammit"

Ichigo looked at her and saw she was about to stand up again but he wasn't going to have it and pulled her back down making her land on her butt. She gave a groan and glared at Ichigo.

"Hold on a minute" Ichigo said "I want you to tell me right now what happened to you" he demanded

To be honest she wanted to know what just happened to her as well; she's never felt so weakened before just from tracking down her friends spiritual pressure but then there was also that voice that kept calling out her name over and over again; it actually made her head spin but now she could sense all of them clearly.

"We should get going" she stated

"Hey wait what about-

"I don't know what happened Ichigo but I'm fine now I assure you that" she replied

Ichigo stared at her "But I think you should take a little break-

"I'm fine" Sakura snapped "Come on the sooner we find the others the sooner we can get out of this forest and go save Orihime"

Ichigo stared at her for a moment before standing up; he knew that there was something on Sakura's mind but she didn't want to tell him; he knew that she had been opening up quite a bit but there was still hesitance in her.

The reason for this is Sakura had been this tense the moment she set foot into Hueco Mundo because she was sensing things that she had never felt before; it made chills run down her spine but this feeling it was like the first time she had ever sensed a hollow before when she was younger but this struck something inside of her and made her anxious and though she didn't want to say it out loud; she was afraid; she was afraid of what was to come; she was afraid that they wouldn't make it out; she was afraid that they wouldn't find the others in time.

'I'm afraid' she thought clenching her fist

"I sense them now; Uryuu; Chad and Renji; Rukia's there to and someone else but I don't think it's an enemy" she said

Ichigo nodded grasping her hand still "Alright" he pulled her onto his back

"W-What are you doing?" she asked blushing slightly

"Well I figured that it would make it a bit easier for you to track them like this" he said "Just tell me where to go"

Sakura nodded wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he started to jump through the forest although she couldn't help but think he smelt pretty good.

* * *

After running for a while Sakura and Ichigo were getting closer and closer to what felt like a really big battle; there was the feeling of spiritual pressure being released. There was everyone there now. Sakura and Ichigo came into a clearing near a huge cave like area. There was the rest of the gang and looking up there was Nel; Pesche and Dondochakka standing on the top of a cliff with him now

Ichigo and Sakura land with their friends looking up they see Nel and the others.

"What's going on here?" Ichigo asked as Sakura got off his back; he looked up and spotted Nel

"What's she doing up here?" he asked looking up

"We don't know" Uryuu said "Nel and the others vanished on us but it looks like they're safe"

Sakura shook her head "Something's wrong" she said then there was suddenly a huge cero blast almost hitting all of them but they managed to dodge it. When everyone landed on the ground they started looking around to find a bunch of Menos surrounding them. They heard laughing and looking up everyone saw several adhujas standing there behind Nel.

"Hang on!" Sakura shouted up at her

"I was going to get you with one shot but I missed oh well" the strongest Adhuja said "Don't move soul reapers; don't move a single hair if you do the hollows is going to eat them"

Sakura glared up with Ichigo at them "Dammit" Ichigo cursed

Uryuu looked around as the Menos surrounding them "It seems he planned to draw us out by using them as bait from the beginning"

"That's not all" the Adhuja said; he pointed down at the group "The guy Lord Aizen placed in charge of this forest says that he wants to fight Ashido one on one so we drew you out"

"Ashido?" asked Sakura in confusion last time she checked there wasn't anyone with that name around here

"That's right we made you come to this amusing little place"

"You call this place amusing?" Renji asked dryly

"That's right" he said signalling for the Menos to attack them with Cero and soon red beams were being shot at them from all corners and then there was a cloud of dust.

"Ichigo; Sakura!" shouted Nel crying as she watched but when the dust cleared no one was there anymore.

"What where did they go?"

Suddenly Uryuu appeared and started to shoot arrows at the group of hollows making sure to avoid Nel and the others while Ichigo; Renji and Sakura flash stepped to get all of them safely away from the hollows.

"Those bastards" the hollow cursed

Once everyone was back together they took a moment to celebrate "Nicely done Uryuu" Chad said

"Thanks" he replied

""Now we can finally get out of this place" Sakura said

"Let's go" Ichigo said drawing his sword out

Ichigo attack the Adhuja while Sakura and the other are dealt with the Menos. Uryuu shot at the Menos with all of his arrows that were coming at blinding speed and Chad was using his arm to blast them away with a power Sakura thought was actually rather similar to a hollows ; Renji used his Zabimaru to defeat all of the hollows around him taking off their heads in one long strike. Sakura gripped her swords and drew a circle around her before starting to murmur something and then a bright light appeared below her and spread out disintegrating the menos around her in one move. She didn't have a name for it yet but it was one of her favourite tricks to use when she was out numbered

"This is too easy" Renji said

Chad punched another Menos down ad while they were dealing with that Ichigo was taking out the Adhuja which seemed to be giving him a bit of trouble. Sakura wondered about it for a while and then decided to go and help him.

Sakura jumped up over to Ichigo as a cero was released on them; Ichigo grabbed her however by her waist and then used his Getsuga Tensho to send the hollow flying somewhere in a blazing light

"Are you alight?" Sakura asked

"Yeah I'm fine" Ichigo said grabbing her waist a little tighter

Looking down at their friends they saw that the Menos were starting to move more slowly

"Don't worry I'll take care of this" Renji said "Bankai" and as red energy started to surround him Renji's power grew "Hihio Zambimaru" he said

Sakura saw a huge snake like thing around Renji and figured that must be his bankai it was big but she saw that he was able to handle it as he swung his sword at the menos and killed them; so this was the power of a lieutenant rather amazing.

"Getsuga Tensho" Ichigo shouted as he also used his sword on them until they were all gone.

"Did we get all of them?" Ichigo asked

"I think so" Renji replied

"Hey is everyone alright?" Ichigo asked

"Yes we're fine" Uryuu said

* * *

After all the commotion the group got themselves together and Nel and the others told them about the exit that they were close to right now. At least there was an exit because no one of them were sure about it however there was still an issue and that was Rukia was still missing.

"We have to go find her" Sakura stated "I can try and find her spiritual pressure again"

Just as she said that though Sakura started to feel dizzy and weak and started to sway; Ichigo noticed and rand up to her to catch her again but she caught herself before she fell

"I can't find her" Sakura said

"Don't bother" a familiar voice behind them said and turning around they all saw Rukia standing with another red headed soul reaper.

"Rukia" Sakura said in relief

"Sakura; Ichigo; hey Renji" she smiled going over to them

"Rukia-

"So good to see you; we're glad that you're safe" Uryuu said

"Thanks" Rukia replied

It was only then that everyone noticed Ashido coming over to them "Who's that?" Ichigo asked

"His name is Ashido; he's a soul reaper like us" she told them "He saved me and he helped me get up here to the exit"

"So they weren't kidding when they said the exit was around here" Ichigo nodded

Dondochakka looked at Ichigo in disbelief "You thought we were lying; what's the matter with you?"

"A lot of things" Sakura murmured

"Hey" Ichigo snapped

There was suddenly the sound of more hollows but they weren't in sight; everyone decided to leave while they still could without getting dragged into another pointless fight. Rukia told them that Ashido knew where the exit was. So they followed him and were lead into a gap in between the huge mountain after a few people struggled to get in Ashido showed them that it was up ahead and he was right of course there was a bright light shining through there.

"Is this the same place we came in from?" Sakura asked

"No you entered from somewhere else" Ashido said "Once you pass through here follow the flow of the sand then you'll reach surface"

"Let's go" Ichigo said everyone started running but the sound of a menos stopped Ashido and he was almost blasted with a Cero

A lot of Menos were gathering by them now and standing there in the cave was the Adhuja that Ichigo had supposedly killed but it looked like he was back for more.

"You won't get away soul reaper" he said in a menacing tone

Renji; Sakura and Ichigo ran over to go help him as Ashido blocked the cero attacks

"Get back" he told them making them look at him in shock and worry "Go on now"

Rukia ran up to them "Ashido" she cried in alarm but as a cero came towards the group he deflected it and it hit the ceiling started a cave in.

"Hurry let's get out of here" Uryuu shouted

"Ashido come with us" Rukia said

He blocked another attack and looked over at them through the falling rocks "I'll catch up to you later go on ahead without me"

'He's lying" Sakura thought

"Stop interfering" the hollow said coming to attack him

The rocks started falling a lot faster mow as Rukia started to call out "Ashido"

"Ashido" Rukia called again through a hole in the rocks

"Go" he said not looking back "Save your friend"

With that he flash stepped away back down "ASHIDO!" Rukia screeched

* * *

The group made it through the sand and back to the surface of the desert which was actually a sight for sore eyes after what they've been through.

"Nel can hardly believe we got back to the surface alive" she rejoiced

However while the four of them were rejoicing the other soul reapers and humans were watching Rukia grieve. Sakura could feel how sad Rukia was about this and wanted to do something to help.

Rukia remained crouching down with one hand on the sand "Ashido had said that the Adhuja power was changing; I couldn't tell him that some soul reapers have joined forces with the hollows and are trying to change the world with the Hougyoku Ashido had been fighting hollows alone for centuries in that forest because he was a soul reaper; I couldn't tell him" she said again; Sakura walked over to her and leaned down so did Ichigo

"Rukia" Ichigo called "After we save Orihime we have to steal the Hougyoku back form that bastard Aizen"

"Hey" Nel shouted getting their attention she and the other arancars were already to go on their pet "You want a lift to Las Nochas?"

"Let's hit it" Dondochakka said

Everyone got up and went over but Rukia has made a promise to come back for him when she was finished.

* * *

Orihime stood in her room that she was given; looking at the moonlight up in the window that was bared so trying to get out was not an option. She was told to wear an outfit similar to the arancars; it was a long black and white dress that didn't have sleeves but she also wore a kind of cape that had sleeves so she was basically completely covered though her curves show very nicely.

"That outfit unexpectedly suits you"

Orihime turned around in fright and looked behind her to see Ulquiorra at the door "You startled me" she said "When did you come in?"

"Just this second" he replied "Don't fuss over everything; it's quite annoying. I have some news your friends have entered Hueco Mundo"

Orihime looked slightly shocked "Why would they come here?" she asked; she was sure that Sakura wouldn't say anything about this to the others. She had told Sakura not to and felt so sure Sakura wouldn't.

"Why you ask; they have come to save you" Ulquiorra replied in his same calm tone

Orihime gasped slightly "Why else would they choose to come here; they have no other reason" Ulquiorra pointed out and all Orihime could do was stand there in shock at the thought of her friends actually being here. There was the feeling of spiritual pressure being released and she knew that they were trying to break through the walls to get into the castle.

"So they came here just to save me?" she asked

"Yes that's right" he replied "But that no longer has any meaning for you; by wearing these clothes you are no longer the person you used to be. You are one of us now in body and in spirit" Orihime's eyes widened slightly "That is reality Orihime Inoue" there was another wave of energy coming from the group trying to break through the walls "Tell me who does your body and spirit belong to now; I want to hear you say it out loud?" Ulquiorra ask

There was a moment of silence for Orihime as her friends broke through the walls; she looked up at the arancar with no emotion in her eyes and with a straight face "They belong to Lord Aizen and are for his purpose and use"

* * *

After riding for a while the group had finally made it to the castle and without wasting any time at all; Ichigo and Renji had attempted to blast a hole through the side.

"Did we make it through?" Ichigo asked starring at the big hole they had just made in the side of the castle with their zampakuto

"Looks like it" Renji said "Wind is passing through"

It was dark though; the inside seemed like a black hole that went on forever. Sakura stared at the hole in awe; they just busted through it so recklessly she was worried about attracting too much attention.

"Hey what are you doing?" Nel's voice called getting their attention; she pointed to the side "The entrance to the palace is just a three day walk in that direction"

She really was oblivious sometimes "Look Nel" Ichigo started "This isn't a visit to a friend's house we're not just gonna walk right in through the front door."

Sakura nodded "We also don't have the time"

"Nel" Ichigo started; he smiled "Thank you for bringing us this far but I'm afraid this is where it has to end"

"If you involved yourself with us anymore you'll most likely be seen as traitors" Sakura pointed out

"And so this is goodbye" Ichigo finished for her and started to run into the dark hole with Sakura; Renji; Rukia; Uryuu and Chad following not far behind.

* * *

The group continued to run until they heard Nel calling out Sakura and Ichigo's name and it seemed to be getting closer to her. Ichigo and Sakura stopped as the rest of them continued to run on; they heard Nel's voice screaming again for them,

"From the moment Rurugara saw us together our fate was sealed and we were labelled as traitors no it may have even been long before then Lord Aizen may have already known and if that's the case; he'll never forgive us for helping you and even if he does forgive us the Espada defiantly wouldn't forgive us!" Rukia and the others also stopped running to hear Nel's cries "Nel is not saying that Nel wants you to take us with you Nel are just telling you this so that you don't worry about us. The last thing Nel wants is for you to worry about Nel and her friends and Nel is also not saying that Nel wants you to take us with you!

"So when she says don't worry" Renji started

"She really means please worry" Chad stated

Ichigo and Sakura were actually reaching a limit with the Nel's cries and please about not taking her with them and actually saying that she wanted them to take her with them and her friends as well. Sakura sighed; she really didn't know how to deal very well with this kind of situation and then again she didn't think Ichigo did either.

"Fine just be quiet alright" Ichigo said frustrated suddenly there was a noise and Nel's voice began to grow fainter and fainter

"It almost sounds like she fell underground or something" Sakura said

Ichigo turned to her "What do you mean fell under ground how could that happen?"

Sakura and Ichigo started running over to her voice but instead ran into Pesche and Dondochakka. While Sakura managed to duck and avoid crashing Ichigo was not so lucky.

"Watch where you're going" Dondochakka said

"Give me a break; you're the ones who ran into me" he shot back

Sakura helped Ichigo up when the rest of the group arrived "What are you fools doing here?" Rukia asked

"And where's Nel?" Sakura asked

"I don't know" Pesche said "We heard her screaming so we came in here looking for Nel to"

"Yeah what he said" Dondochakka added

"Huh?" Ichigo raised his eyebrow in confusion "Then where could she have disappeared to?"

"Ichigo look" Chad said

Following his hand Chad pointed to a hole in the tunnel they never even saw and there was a ladder there as well leading down into a deep hole.

"What the hell is that?" Ichigo asked

"You mean the floor fell through?" Renji said

"No" Uryuu replied "It's probably an air shaft; it looks to me like she fell through when she went by here"

Scratching his head in frustration he sighed "Damn that kid sure is a handful"

"So what now" Chad asked

"Well it's not like we can just leave her alone down there to fend for herself" Sakura sighed

"You gotta be kidding" Renji said "These guys are really starting to become a pain in the butt"

"You can say that again" Uryuu vouched

"Let's do this" Sakura said jumping down into the hole followed soon by her friends

Sakura landed safely and saw Nel crying and she scowled slightly "Hey come on why are you crying?"

Nel turned to Sakura and the tears flowed free "Wah; Nel was so scared!"

Sakura sighed and picked her up; Ichigo landed down beside her "Hey what I miss?"

"Not much" she mumbled back petting the little arancars head; Ichigo sighed

"Fine; stop crying we'll take you with us ok?"

Nel looked over at him and still cried "What is she crying about now?" Ichigo asked

There was suddenly a loud noise and looking up everyone started to land and run away.

"Ichigo; Sakura run" Uryuu said as he moved out of the way but they just sat there in confusion until the other two arancars began falling from above and once again Sakura was the one to move herself and Nel out of harm's way and Ichigo wasn't so lucky again.

"Get off me" Ichigo groaned shoving them all off "This nonsense has got to stop-

But before he could finish his sentence a bunch of rocks and rubble fell on top of him.

"Ichigo are you alright?" Sakura got her answer when he came out without much of a scratch

"Come on let's find a way out of here" Rukia said as they all started walking off

They were walking for a while now and it was getting really hard to see in the dark.

"It sure is dark down here" Ichigo pointed out

"Yeah I know and it's a good thing I'm here" Renji said

"Why it's not like you can do anything about it is there?" Ichigo asked as the group continued to walk almost in a line.

"Well you see when slightly tweaked a bit Kiddo can be used like this!" Renji raised his hands "Shakahou"

Everyone stared at him for a while and then the red light in his hands started to shrink into a smaller one and even though Sakura wasn't familiar with Kiddo she had a feeling that that wasn't supposed to happen.

"Wow; that's a pretty small light you got there" Uryuu stated unimpressed "So do you use it to help you find the bathroom in the middle of the night?"

"You're a fool" Rukia said "This only happened because he tried using an Eishou Haki even though his not good at it"

Ichigo put his hand on Renji's shoulder "Well don't worry about it we'll just use that red hair of yours to guide our way tonight. They even wrote a song about it something about a red haired soul reaper guiding Santa's sleigh on a foggy charismas eve"

Sakura coughed a couple of times to hide her giggles.

* * *

After all was said and done the group started to make their way through the tunnel again that almost seemed to have no end in sight as Renji lead the way with his small kiddo light.

Ichigo looked around the place curiously "What kind of place is this anyway; I mean do you know if this place was even here before Aizen came?" Ichigo asked

"The building above was built by Lord Aizen" Nel explained "But Nel doesn't know about the basement part down here"

Uryuu began to try and fill in the gap "Most likely this place was part of an older building; it's probably not used anymore"

"Let's go upstairs as soon as possible" Ichigo said

There was another path that they went passed but Dondochakka and Pesche saw something flash and stopped.

"Hold on" Dondochakka said "I saw a light; I'll go check it out" he ran off towards it with Pesche and Nel following after them causing the others to run off with them in case they got lost. When they got there the three arancars found a metal like door there.

Uryuu came towards it and felt the door "The materials used to make it are different; everything from this point on must be the newly built building" he turned to his friends "In other words it's not abandoned like this area is instead it's being used now but we should try to be cautious from this point on; we don't know-

"Uryuu" Ichigo interrupted "Move aside; will you?" he grabbed a hold of his sword and just after a few short hours with them Sakura could guess that Ichigo and Uryuu had a lot of difference other than being a soul reaper and the other a human. They thought differently about things.

Ichigo broke down the wall and the door leading to a staircase and another door. Ichigo smashed through the wall again this time ignoring Uryuu even faster than before but this time the room they landed in was different. The walls were yellow and there were lit torches burning on either side lighting the place up and there were several passage ways and by several there were six crossroads.

"How do we decide which doors to go through?" Renji asked

There was suddenly the release of strong spirit energy after a while Ichigo finally spoke up

"Nel; sorry but it looks like we'll have to part ways here after all; the spiritual pressure is too strong there's no way you guys would be able to withstand it from this point on. I can't even imagine what might be facing us ahead; there was spiritual pressure being realised from each path.

"There are six paths" Chad said

"We have to check each one starting with the ones on the ends" Uryuu said

"No we don't" Sakura's voice cut through the air; everyone turned to her wondering what she might be thinking other than Rukia of course who saw where she was coming from.

"Let's each go down a separate path at the same time" Sakura said

"That's crazy" Ichigo said "I mean we're talking about Espada here; if we all stand together as one until we'll all have a better chance against them. Think about it if we become separated-

"Enough" Renji said appearing in front of Sakura; he looked at Ichigo "It's insulting to a worrier to be concerned for his life while his out fighting on the battle field"

Sakura stared up at Ichigo; her face calm as ever "Ichigo" Rukia sighed "You say that because you're worried about Sakura but don't"

Sakura nodded "She's right I didn't come here so you could worry about me; believe me I can take care of myself even without your help"

Ichigo finally gave up and looked down "Alright then; we'll go down separate paths"

"Good" Renji nodded "But before we do that we should probably do a charm together"

"Charm?" Ichigo repeated

"That's right it's a ritual that the thirteenth court guard squad has used over the years and it's chanted before a big battle it's fallen out of use and to be honest there aren't many squads that still do it anymore but I figure it's a good thing to do at a time like this" Renji held out his hand; with his palm facing down "Come on join hands"

Everyone hesitantly placed their hands on top of each other; Renji; Rukia; Chad; Uryuu; Sakura and Ichigo all stood together in a circle with their hands outstretched together.

"As we approach the crucial battle grounds believe that out blades will not shatter" Renji said "Believe that our resolve will not weaken! Though our paths may diverge our iron heats will remain together. Swear that though the land itself may break us under…we will come back here alive" when he was finished everyone broke apart and went into their separate paths at the same time without looking back at the three arancars or at each other because if they did the resolve may waver.

* * *

Meanwhile Ulquiorra was making his way through the castle he thought about what he said to Orihime and how she had responded to him when she told him who her body and soul now belonged to. She hesitated for a moment but she didn't flinch that made him think she was rather brave.

"Hey" a voice stopped him in his tracks "Tell me how's out little pet doing today?"

"Nnoitra" Ulquiorra acknowledged the espada

"I know that Lord Aizen decided to leave you in charge of that girl Ulquiorra" he said with a slight evil look on his face well then again that wasn't something out of the norm "Have you disciplined her yet?" he asked

Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes slightly and turned away calmly "How vulgar"

He suddenly appeared in front of Ulquiorra and he stretched out a lot taller than him "Don't get so touchy; I'm simply asking if things are going ok in there that's all well?"

Ulquiorra returned the espada's smile with a calm detached look "You're curious; don't worry yourself over such trifling matters" Nnoitra looked at him strangely "Actually what I meant to say was that the girl was already under lord Aizen's spell before she came here"

As he started to walk away from Nnoitra he started talking "His Kyoka Suigetsu huh?"

"Of course not" he replied "There's no need to use it for something like this; he placed her in several psychological cages when he brought her here which she won't escape from. He ordered her to surrender and made her unable to refuse by offering to spare her friends lives. Afterwards he gave her a twelve hour reprieve then allowed her to say goodbye to one friend on the condition that no one else could see her"

"And you call that a cage?" Nnoitra asked

"By giving her a reprieve and allowing her to say goodbye to one friend in such a tense situation she'll mistakenly believe that we have showed her some sympathy and we are on her side which will eventually weaken her will but in truth her friend's lives were not actually at risk at all during that twelve hour reprieve; further more even though she was forced to surrender by allowing her to choose someone to say goodbye to she'd get the idea that she had done so by choice. And by making her return to the meeting spot before taking her to Hueco Mundo ensure that she bought into our plan completely; the idea that she chose us was etched even deeper into her mind and gradually she will lose the will to run away. The genius of the plan is that by allowing her to say goodbye to one friend without anyone else knowing means that she most likely leave evidence behind in having said goodbye"

"So what of it; if she left evidence behind with a friend then we have completely failed"

"Quite the opposite the evidence of her having said goodbye becomes undeniable proof to our enemies that she was completely free to do what she wanted to until the time she surrendered in other words the stronger the evidence she left behind was the more her friends would be inclined to think that she wilfully betrayed them and that she wasn't in fact taken against her will though that last part wasn't a complete success but it is safe to say that the soul society won't be getting involved"

Nnoitra smirked "That sure was well thought out I guess that's to be expected when you consider it's Lord Aizen"

"What do you mean well thought out?" Ulquiorra asked not even blinking "This is a game of strategy to Lord Aizen he would've had a solution whether she had played into it or not but in any case right now that girl does not have the strength to run away or the will to defy us. Although the plan wasn't a complete success this has brought about a new opportunity for Lord Aizen and it is making its way through Hueco Mundo"

"A new opportunity you say for what?" Nnoitra asked

"Sakura Haruno" he stated

* * *

**Ok; I am really tired now after updating this story it's really long I know hope you enjoyed it. **

**Don't forget to review **


	19. Chapter 19

**Ok wonderful readers this is a special chapter I think you Ichigo and Sakura fans might really enjoy if you like the thought of them being together. I know that the two of them aren't together and have separated but I hope you enjoy this.**

* * *

Sakura continued running through the passage ways; she was hoping that everyone else was going to be alright they made a vow to each other to come back alive no matter what and she knew that's what they were going to do and despite not being a part of the group as long as they were she had to honour that vow as well and she would.

She's been running for a while now; all she could do was think about Orihime and hoped she was alright as well as her friends and her thoughts seemed to constantly be coming back to a certain orange haired soul reaper. There was something...something she knew she wanted to say to Ichigo but she didn't know what it was she wanted to say like that made sense.

'This isn't the time' she scolded herself

Sakura swallowed hard there was something about Hueco Mundo that's been affecting her; she couldn't explain the feeling though but it sent tingles all over her body even her hollow felt it. She didn't know why though but this eerie feeling disturbed her. Sakura stopped in her tracks; she started looking around frantically; her eyes narrowed.

"Alright I know you're there come on out" she ordered

After a few moments a voice hit her eyes "Well; well look at the butterfly that flew into my web"

Sakura started searching for the source of the voice.

Something flashed passed her and landed right behind her; she turned around and there stood an arancar right before her eyes. He watched her carefully; this arancar had long purple hair that went down to his waist and red eyes; in all honesty he was actually pretty good looking; his mask was on top of his head and had red streaks coming down on either side of its eyes.

"Who are you?" Sakura asked cautiously

"Isn't it common curtseys to give your name first before asking someone else there's" he asked

"Sakura Haruno" she replied

"Hiiro Dark; I'm arancar 107 (I really apologize if there was already a Privaron espada with this number)" he smirked at her "Nice to meet you"

"Wish I could say the same" she said averting her eyes; she had taken it to thought that he just gave her a three digit number when Nel had told them that the espada only had two digits

"So how is this going to work are you going to let me through or am I going to have to force my way through?" she asked

He just smirked at her for a while "Sakura; cherry blossom that name suits you" he winked

Raising an eyebrow she looked at him; what was he doing? Flirting with her or something?

"I asked are you going to let me pass or what?" she asked again her voice turning harder; he suddenly vanished and appeared behind her; she felt him slump an arm over her shoulder; her eyes widened he was so fast she barely saw him.

"Aw; come on now why not hang out with me a little while I hardly ever see anyone down here there's no rush right?" he asked whispered in her ear

Sakura twirled around and kicked him off making him back up "You're pretty feisty" he said

"Well you're pretty revolting!" she said back at him

He landed safely on the other side of the passage "That's not the usual reaction I get" he muttered

Sakura tilted her heard in disbelief "Do you have a tendency to always hit on your enemies?"

He winked at her again and laughed "Just the really hot ones"

Sakura rolled her eyes at him "Ok smart ass listen up; I don't have time for this if you're just going to stand there and hit on me all day then I'll just be on my way" she started running through the passage way and he didn't do anything to stop her.

Dark let out a sigh "Cute but stubborn"

As Sakura continued running she had eventually made it to an open room and there was another path right up ahead of her but before she could reach it there was an explosion and something appeared around the exit; there was a light green shield now surrounding it.

"Sorry but I'm afraid I can't let you go any further" he said appearing out of thin air behind her

"Why you…." She growled clenching her fists

Sakura started to walk back towards the shield. Sakura gently placed her hand near it and sparks literally started to fly; she took a step back. She could use her own shield to take it away.

Sakura turned to him "I'm going now " she said; but before she was able to create a shield a sword came flying at her making her move out of the way. She looked at Dark and saw him holding his sword up.

"I see so that's how it's gonna be" she said drawing her sword and pointing it in his direction

"I really don't want to do this but I suppose since you're going to be so persistent on getting through here; I'll have to fight you" he said

Sakura smirked holding up her blade and finally saying her zampakuto name "Now hunt…Kuresento Kage Rozu!" with a swipe of her hand Sakura's zampakuto changed into a scythe a red and black scythe.

Dark started at it strangely "So that's your zampakuto?"

Sakura nodded "Yeah; her names Crescent Shadow Rose" she said holding her up she looked at him

Flash stepping at the same time the two worriers swords clashed together; Sakura against Dark. Sakura had to admit this guy was strong; she was having trouble holding against him as their swords clashed again and again. Sakura swung her scythe at him again and cut him on the side of his face.

"I've heard that there were only supposed to be two digit arancars?" Sakura asked through the tense sword fight as she drew herself back

"I'm a Privaron Espada; an arancar that's been stripped of his rank for doing something unforgivable" Dark explained "In other words I used to be an espada but I still hold the same power as they do"

Sakura's eyes widened as Dark came back at her again with his blade; she blocked him off again and when she was back in the air she swung her sword and a dark light flashed through her blade and started heading towards Dark just when Sakura thought she got him he didn't even move out of the way but instead raised his arm and flicked her attack away like it was nothing.

"What the hell?" Sakura asked in disbelief

Dark chuckled slightly "That was a nice trick but not good enough" Sakura's eye narrowed as she started coming towards him and was about to connect when he vanished; he seemed faster than before; it took her a moment to detect him before she saw the blade coming at her head she ducked in time and then countered attack but he blocked her.

"You're in a hurry aren't you?" Dark stated noticing her quick movements

"You catch on fast" Sakura said panting slightly

Smirking Dark suddenly pulled back and moved away from her; there was something strange about the look in his eye. It didn't seem very normal.

"Tell me Sakura why are you in such a rush?" he asked curiously "I've noticed that there has been another spiritual pressure could that be why you are so on edge; so worried?"

Sakura's eyes widened realising he had hit the nail on the head

* * *

"Ichigo!" exclaimed Nel watching as he got hit and wounded on his shoulder, blood splattered out. Nel had run after Ichigo and caught up to him but they were then stopped from continuing any further by a Privaron Espada that called himself Dordoni Alessandro Socaccio also espada 103; he had black hair and blue eyes with a Vandyke beard and moustache. Despite their introductory being anything but the normal enemies greeting things were getting serious now.

Ichigo got kicked through the hall way into a room as Ichigo was flying back through the air he looked down without noticing the arancar above.

"Not very impressive you shouldn't have to look down to find your footing Nino (boy)" he said

As Ichigo looked up he got a hard kick to the guy that knocked the wind out of him and sent him straight into the wall.

Dordoni landed safely on the ground looking back he sighed "You're reactions are slow; your defense is weak; you can't even deal with a sudden change in your stance" he turned around to face the hole Ichigo was in "I cannot fight with you ; I mean really it's like facing off with some kind of baby. Pathetic"

As the dust cleared showing Ichigo's figure in the wall; the young soul reaper had his head hung

"You're about to be destroyed Nino. Go ahead use your bankai believe me I won't think badly of you but if you don't use your bankai you'll never be able to challenge me"

Ichigo started pulling himself out of the rubble "No I won't do it"

"Why not?"

"Because I have a mission and I won't compromise it" Ichigo smirked "Privaron espada aren't espada anymore are they?"

"That's correct"

"Well there's your answer!" exclaimed Ichigo as he swung his sword down on Dordoni but he doged his attacked "I can't afford to waste my bankai against anyone especially if they're not espada!"

Ichigo continued his attacks "So I'll just have to defeat you without the use of my bankai"

"I see" Dordoni replied calmly as he blocked Ichigo's sword with his foot "I understand how you feel so out of resptect I'm going to tell you something do not underestimate me"

He grabbed onto Ichigo's sword and pushed him back "Whirl Giralda!"

There was suddenly whilrl wind surrounding the espada and Ichigo who watched as the zampakuto was released without even being drawn.

"Get ready Nino here I come"

Ichigo watched as the wind cleared showing Dordoni in his new form "Time to dance Giralda"

He generated cyclones and with a kick of his foot sent them towards Ichigo as he tried to avoid them but then Dordoni appeared above Ichigo and kicked him so that in his gut that he spat out blood. This fight was not going well for Ichigo.

* * *

Sakura's head shot up "Ichigo" she muttered; she felt that he was fighting against someone but he wasn't using his bankai for some reason.

'What are you doing?' she thought worried

Dark smirked "I wouldn't drop my guard like that if I were you blossom or it'll be your ultimate downfall. It seems that Dordoni is having fun fighting with whoever it may be"

Sakura tensed; she felt the spiritual pressures

"Ah is it one of your little friends? But wait that expression on your face could it be...more than a friend?"

Sakura glared at him "What are you talking about?!"

"Ah so I'm right" Dark mused chuckling evilly "Well I wonder what could have you so smitten-

"It's not like that!" she snapped feeling her face turn a little red, she did not like Ichigo like that he was her friend. The first friend she had made in a long time that's why she was feeling like this.

"Ok if you say so but I'm about to find out for myself. Peer into her heart… Kage Hato Anaake (Shadow heart piercer)" he said

Dark appeared different than before; his mask had changed at was black now and shaped like some kind of animal she had never seen before it was actually a dragons; his clothes as well and he had dark lizard like wings that appeared to be made of black steel as well as a tail that was white with a red end that had spikes attached to it.

Sakura didn't have much time to take in his appearance thought as she watched her surroundings become dark; the room she was in vanished like it was never there in the first place. She could only see darkness around her; she started to feel really tired as she closed her eyes unable to resist the urge to sleep she allowed her grip to slacken on her zampakuto.

'So sleepy'

Dark appeared before Sakura watching as she floated in the space unaware of what was to come for her "This is the greatest power of my zampakuto; Kage Hato Anaake can reach deep within your soul and reveal to your true desires then once you've accepted it then end is that much closer for you."

* * *

Sakura opened her eyes and was greeted by a blue sky. She sat up and rubbed her eyes trying to figure out where she was. She couldn't even place how she had gotten here but for some reason she felt at peace.

"What is this place?" she asked looking around she was in a field with nothing but grass; trees and flowers as far as her eyes could see. Looking down she was wearing a plain white summer dress that ended bellow her knees. She saw a shadow behind her and gasped turning around to see who it was.

"Ichigo?" she asked in confusion

"Hey there you are" he replied smiling down at her; he sat down beside her and slipped an arm around her shoulder pulling her closer

"Ichigo what are you doing?" she asked softly

'Why the hell is my heart pounding like this?'

"Do you want me to stop?' he aske softly

Sakura couldn't help the chills that ran down her spin when he said that to her but since when did he...?

"Are you ok; you seem tense" he said sounding worried

Sakura shook her head; she felt so calm here like there was no reason for her to have a care in the world. This feeling of warmth, it was Ichigo's warmth she was experiencing. She felt the corners of her lips try to twitch into a smile but she did her best to hide it.

'What's the matter with Ichigo?' she thought looking at him cautiously

He looked down at her and surprised her at his next action. He pinched her cheeks.

"Hey what's with that sour look on your face?"

Sakura squirmed as he started pulling her cheeks "Ouch...I-Ichigo you jerk let go" she said flaying her arms up and down

"Ha ha" he laughed letting go of her face; she rubbed her now sore cheeks

"Jeez why are you so...ugh" she muttered knowing that her cheeks were red

"Ah sorry about that but I didn't like that look you were giving me" he said

She glared at him "I wasn't giving you any look and besides-

"Hey look" he pointed ignoring her

Sakura turned her head towards the direction he was pointing at and realised that he was pointing to the sunset.

"It's amazing huh?" Ichigo muttered softly

'This...what is this?' Sakura thought looking ahead 'It's like a dream being here...but I shouldn't be...'

She glanced up at Ichigo's face seeing how calm he looked; most of the time she's seen him scowling and he barely smiled.

"Ichigo are you alright?"

He looked at her "Yeah I'm fine; better than I've been in a really long time why?"

She shook her head "No...it's just that I've never really seen you like this before"

'That smile on his face' she thought looking up at him; she felt her heart skip a beat

'This feels so...'

"Sakura" Ichigo whispered; she turned her head and gasped when she saw he was just a few inches away from her face. She felt her head beat painfully against her rib cage as he leaned closer in. It looked like he was about to kiss her!

_Give into your feelings and be brought to the brink of destruction _

'No!' Sakura thought as she stared at him getting closer to her lips

'This can't be real Ichigo wouldn't do this...he wouldn't' even though saying that left an ache in her heart she knew the truth now.

"NOOOOO"

* * *

"What is this?" Dark asked as Sakura's eyes snapped open and the darkness surrounding them vanished. "She broke out of the trance?"

She charged at him with full speed this time and connected knocking him back into the wall making it crack and crumble. Dark stood up and rubbed his head "What the hell?"

Sakura looked at him calmly and raised her scythe and then banged it down on the ground

"Bankai!" she shouted and then suddenly a dark violet aura started to cover Sakura's form and her scythe's before releasing a mist and out of the mist Sakura emerged; she had on a long red hood around her shoulders and as it blew in the wind red petals seemed to fall from it and her scythe had changed as well now; it was double bladed now.

"This is my bankai" she stated "Akuma Kuresento Kage Rozu (Demon Shadow Crescent Rose)"

"Impressive" Dark said "But it still won't be enough to defeat me" he said

"These feelings I have for Ichigo are not meant to be a weakness for you to exploit!" Sakura hissed menacingly

Sakura charged at him again and their swords once again began to clash with each other as they ducked and dodged over and over again and the sparks flew from their blades finally Sakura was able to cut Dark by his shoulder before he flung her away from him.

Dark suddenly smirked taking Sakura by surprise "This is good; now that's what I'm talking about" he held out his sword "Now I don't have to hold anything back" Sakura's eyes widened as he said that

"Now" suddenly his wings started spreading and Sakura watched as a giant ball started to form "Nova scar!"

The blast came flying towards Sakura and she got ready to block it but it did something unexpected instead of hitting her it just seemed to pass right through her and vanish.

Sakura opened her eyes in shock "What was that" she started to look at herself to check if there was any damage but there wasn't anything new other than the cuts and bruises she had from fighting him.

"What did you do?" she asked him glaring again

Dark smirked at her "You'll see in about five; four; three; two; one" Sakura's eyes widened as she coughed out blood and fell to her knees

"What's going on?" her body felt like it was in so much pain it was unbearable for her ; then with a swipe of his spiked tail Dark sent Sakura flying back through the air "You see my Nova scar isn't a direct attack blast; it's like a poison that seeps into your body and destroys you from the inside right now as we speak the blast is spreading through your system and once it reaches your heart that's where it will finally end you" he said; Dark suddenly sighed "Truth be told I didn't think I would use this attack on you but after feeling that spiritual pressure I knew that I would have been finished soon if I didn't end this fight"

Sakura panted in pain and suddenly she muttered something "Taiyo no Kisu" and a light started to glow from within her; she felt her pain begin to ease

"What?" Dark looked confused "What are you doing?"

Finally when the pain was gone she stood up and smirked "I used my Taiyo no Kisu; it's a special power that allows be to change anything back to the way it was even an attack like yours that was long sided; it was like the blast never existed in the first place" she said panting slightly .

"I guess you're right now Dark I have to give it everything I have if I want this to end" she stated

Sakura stopped panting and stood up straight "You're strong Dark Hiiro; I now know that I can't beat you like this" she said raising her hand to her face she looked at him one last time with calming eyes

"I'm sorry" she swiped and her hollow mask appeared before him shocking him but then he smiled.

"Yes about time" he said almost insanely as he flew into the air and prepared another blast "I finally get to fight you at full strength!"

"See you Blossom" he said but then something started to appear out of the smoke and there Sakura stood alive and well. Sakura back up and then pointed her scythe at him before violet beam came at Dark making him crash into the wall.

"What the hell?" he asked

Sakura stared at him blankly "There's her blade which goes for the direct approach but it almost can emit a kind of blast I like to call Akuma hanata (demon hunter)"

There was silent for a moment between the two until Dark started laughing again and this time madly; he began to build up his power again and direct it at Sakura his tail whipped out towards her almost hitting her but she managed to duck and doge it again and then Dark aimed a Cero at her that came at her fast. She raised her scythe and then a huge light came from her scythe's blade and deflected the Cero; Sakura sighed if that thing had hit her then it would've been hard to come back.

Sakura looked back at Dark and he stared back at her; closing her eyes she realised she didn't have a lot of time to stay like this and raising her hand she swiped her hand across her face making her mask appear. Dark looked at her in shock

"You're a..."

"I'm sorry" she said and then suddenly Dark felt a pain hit him instantly all over his body and saw that Sakura had struck him with her scythe right across his chest with her Akuma Hanata; he started to fall.

'I lost' he thought sadly looking at Sakura as she took off her mask he smiled slightly 'not bad Blossom'

Dark felt strange; his entire body was no longer in any pain; he felt content for the first time it was like he was floating and he started to wonder if he was dead. Beaten by a girl; he recalled the battle and realised that it was most likely that this was what happened but it was such an amazing battle that he was more than happy to die. Suddenly a light started to hit his eyes and he slowly went towards it ready for the sweet release of death.

Dark's eyes slowly opened and started to focus he realised he was in the same room as before from where he fought Sakura. He sat up rubbing his head and then his eyes snapped open. He looked over his body and realised there were no wounds anymore.

'What the heck?' he thought

"So you're awake?" Sakura sighed; looking back up to her he saw Sakura standing there with her hands on her hips staring down at him "Good I've been using my Taiyo no kisu for more than fifteen minutes now I know it's a lot harder for me to erase damage done by my attacks but seriously."

Dark stared at her in shock "Blossom what are you still doing here?"

Sakura raised an eye brow "How much longer are you going to keep calling me that? My name is Sakura learn it pal. Anyway I'm still here because I was busy healing your wounds I kinda planned on leaving after I finished"

"Then why do I still feel so weak?" he asked

"Because I said I healed your wounds I didn't say I planned on restoring your power. I'm compassionate not stupid"

She walked over to the shielded door and placed a hand on it making it glow and then it vanished "I knew you were still alive after my attack because the shield you made was still up" she said silently

"Look; don't think I spared you because I felt pity for you" she stated "I can feel that that's what you're thinking; I saved you because I need information from you"

He narrowed his eyes slightly at her "And what information would that be?"

Sakura looked him right in the eye "I want you to tell me; where is Orihime Inoue being held"

Dark stared at her but then smirked "Of course; you're here to save that human girl. Well I'll tell you this you're a long way from where you need to go. She's being held somewhere on the upper levels much higher than where you are now. She's guarded by one of the espada so I'd watch my back if I were you"

Sakura stayed silent for a while before giving a small smile

"Thank you Dark Hiiro"

Sakura smirked and started to walk away but then she felt herself become dizzy and began to fall her wounds still bleeding freely and she realised she had lost more spiritual pressure than she thought before.

'Crap' she thought as her world went black

Dark stared at her "Sakura!" he called out and stood up to run to her but he was suddenly knocked back by something and landed into the wall; he coughed up blood and looked up; his eyes widened as he saw the person who did that.

"Grimmjow" he gaped "What the hell are you doing down here?" he asked the espada

Grimmjow turned his head to look over his shoulder "Pathetic Dark; you couldn't even take care of one little girl like her?" he asked walking over Grimmjow grabbed Sakura by her collar and threw her over his shoulder.

"What are you doing Grimmjow why are you taking her?" Dark asked

Grimmjow stared at him "Orders from above" he said calmly

"What you mean Lord Aizen ordered you to take her?"

Grimmjow nodded "Yup; this chicks a lot of trouble of though I don't get why Lord Aizen wants her so badly when he made us go through all that crap just to get the other one and now her as well"

"What does he want her for?"

"You sure are chatty today" Grimmjow sighed "I don't know alright but I don't think it really concerns you"

With that Grimmjow vanished off carrying Sakura with him and Dark watched wide eyes before collapsing himself; he was still drained even though Sakura had healed his wounds his spiritual pressure was still gone.

* * *

Ichigo ran through the passage ways with Nel in his arms; he had just defeated one of the fallen espada and had lived. Of course he had to use his hollowfication to deliver the finishing blow to him. He hoped the others were doing alright it wasn't long that he felt a huge spiritual pressure being released and it was so strong he didn't know who's it was and then when it died down he was able to feel it was Sakura's. Everyone else had run into trouble as well but they were making their way through Aizen's defences. Renji was still running though with Dondochakka for a while now. It seems like everyone else was still battling and things were getting messy.

* * *

Sakura started to open her eyes and started to focus on what happened; she wasn't on the ground like she was expecting to be. She remembered her fight with Dark and then passing out after healing him; she sighed; her and her stupid kind heart that allowed her to use up all of her power and it was going to take a while for her to fully recover; she had trouble using the sun kiss on herself because it drained her power.

She began to sit up slowly and a voice caught her attention.

"So you're finally awake?" Sakura froze; she felt her heart pound in her chest; she turned her head slowly to the light and saw a man with dark brown hair and eyes with a calm smile on his face; he was wearing white but he wasn't an arancar; he was much more powerful than any of them and it was in that instant that she could guess who this person was and know she was right even though she never wanted to be.

"Sosuke Aizen" Sakura said staring at him shocked

He started walking towards her "I'm surprised you knew that considering you've never seen my face Sakura Haruno"

Sakura felt her stomach turn inside out at the sight of this man; his aura screamed power and darkness and nothing like Sakura had ever been able to stand before it was different; much darker; like it was trying to take away her power but strengthening her will she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Why am I here?" she asked

Aizen stopped "That's an odd question considering it was you who came here to this palace"

"That is not what I meant" Sakura said it was amazing that she was able to withstand this man's presence "I mean; how did I get here?"

Aizen smirked at her calmly "I had Grimmjow bring you here because I wanted to meet you"

"You did?" she started to look around the room it was rather empty with only a window and a soft bed standing there.

Sakura looked over her body; she noticed she was healed up but her spiritual energy wasn't completely restored; she felt Orihime's spiritual pressure and knew that it was hers. It seemed that even though Orihime would be able to heal Sakura's wounds easily it must have been harder for her to restore her spiritual pressure when their powers would clash.

"Is there something troubling you?" Aizen asked her

Looking over to him calmly she kept her head up and looked him in the eye "Where do I begin?"

"Come now there's no need for you to speak like that" he replied walking over to her again making Sakura stare at him cautiously; her zampakuto was placed on the other side of her room

"Aizen" she started off getting his attention "What is the real reason I've been brought here? If you had been so eager to meet me I doubt that you would have taken Orihime"

Aizen stood in front of her now towering over her "Now; now Sakura what makes you think I have ever had the intention of just taking Orihime or you into Hueco Mundo?"

Sakura's eyes widened as she realised the meaning behind his words. This was all a trap; he wanted to lure them all here into Hueco Mundo but for what purpose yet she didn't know.

"Ah" Aizen said "I see you figured it out; you're a very clever girl I must say and so beautiful. No wonder you seem to have the ability to steal the heart of something that no longer has one"

Sakura looked at him strangely was he referring to Dark? She wondered but then shook her head. Aizen placed a hand on top of her head making her freeze in shock,  
"What do you want from me?" Sakura asked breathing out slowly

"That can wait" he said taking Sakura's shoulder and pushing her down lightly as Sakura felt her head become heavy "Rest for a while longer now and stay" as if on command Sakura started to slip into an uneasy sleep

Aizen stood up "Grimmjow" he called and the espada appeared at the door without saying a word "I want you to take care of this girl; she is very special and perhaps even more precious than the other flower. You're to ensure that she stays alive is that understood?"

"Yes Lord Aizen" Grimmjow replied almost with malice in his voice but he dared not go too far or his newly grown arm was going to vanish again and this time for good.

* * *

About two hours later Sakura had woken up from her slumber; she remembered where she was and what happened she felt her heart nearly drop to her stomach as she felt the spiritual pressure of her friends weaken; she could feel it; Rukia was hurt badly; Chad as well he wasn't dead but he was still barely alive now; Uryuu was alright also and Renji but they were fighting someone really strong and Ichigo was still moving through the area now but something about that twisted her stomach into knots.

Sakura stood up and let the blanket fall off of her; she took her sword and tied it to her waist before making her way to the door but as she reached for it the door opened and Grimmjow was standing there.

"So you're awake" he stated

Sakura watched him cautiously and backed away from him; she reached for her sword but his voice cut her short

"Don't even think about it" Grimmjow stated walking up to her; another arancar came in with a cart and left it in the room before shutting the door.

"What the hell is going on?" Sakura asked backing up further away from him

"I'm not here to fight you" he said Sakura frowned; he was acting unusually calm as opposed to the usual maniac she saw when they fought "If you want to go ahead and try but I promise I'll break your arms if you do"

Sakura arched an eyebrow and sighed "When can I get out of here?"

Grimmjow looked over at her "That's a stupid question; did you hit your head when you fought Dark or something?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and settled back down on the bed crossed legs; she closed her eyes and started to think of a way to get out of here and get to her friends. She ran a hand through her hair as she felt it; her friend's spiritual pressures; their life forces draining away. She wanted to go to them; she wanted to help them but in her condition and under the circumstances the best thing she could do was to wait for Grimmjow to leave before going to find Orihime and then get out of here. Grimmjow brought the tray of food over to the bed and placed it there.

"Come on; eat" he said leaning against the wall

Sakura looked at the tray and then back at him with an arched eye brow; did he actually think she was going to listen to him just because they captured her? At that point for her death would've been a better option. He kept staring at her

"Hey if you don't eat I'm gonna shove the food down your throat" he warned "Lord Aizen wants you to stay alive for now"

"What for?" she asked

"The hell I know but it's what he ordered so eat up or else"

Sakura grudgingly started eating though she didn't eat in a while she didn't have much of an appetite. She was having trouble because she could feel her friends fighting for their lives. When she was finished she drank some water.

"There I'm finished" she said softly "Can you go now?"

"Sure are bossy aren't you?" Grimmjow asked glaring at her

"And you sure are annoying" Sakura sighed crossing her arms over her chest

Silence fell over them again for a few moments before Grimmjow spoke up

"Your carrot top boyfriend isn't going to save you this time so I suggest you watch your mouth pixie"

Sakura rolled her eyes "He's not my boyfriend and I don't need him to rescue me we're here to save Orihime but I guess you already knew that"

Grimmjow nodded "Yes but now that he's here I can finally fight him. I've been waiting for this chance"

Before Sakura could reply her eyes widened and her heart started beating faster. She could feel Ichigo and he was fighting against Ulquiorra and it did not feel good. Even from this distance she knew that they were fighting and she knew who was the strongest out of them.

'Oh no' she felt Ichigo's spiritual pressure begin to fade out

Grimmjow noticed the look on her face "Hey what's going on with you?" he asked sounding like he really didn't care.

When she didn't reply he grabbed her shoulders so hard that there would be bruises and shook her

"Hey snap out of it!"

Sakura shook her head and started running for the door but Grimmjow caught her before she got there. He grabbed hold of both of her wrists as she struggled.

"Hey cut that out!" he ordered frowning "What do you think you're doing?"

Sakura calmed down knowing that in her condition that it was going to be harder to get away from him and it also seemed that he was stronger here than in the world of the living she guessed it was because of all the reishi in the air.

"Let go of me!" she said looking up at him

Grimmjow released her wrists and she rubbed them and then she felt the pain in her shoulders and winces "Damn what the hell?" she glared

"Hey don't look at me like that you were the one who started looking like you were about to have a panic attack!" he said

"Now I really have to get going" she muttered angrily

"Hey" Grimmjow called "I told you; you can't do that"

"Oh yeah well then you're going to have to kill me if you want to stop me" she said calmly

Sakura then found herself slammed against a wall and Grimmjow caging her in with his arms on either side of her head; he smirked at her "So where's that high and mighty talk now; isn't it hard to fight back when you're weakened?"

"Stop it" she said placing a hand on his chest but he continued to lean forward; he hovered over her

"Don't think that our battle in the world of the living means you're stronger than me" he said

Sakura glared at Grimmjow and raised her hand smacking him across his face; Grimmjow smirked there was a red mark on his face and it did sting she was stronger than she looked alright.

"I never said that nor have I implied it" she stared him in the eye

Sakura closed her eyes and calmed herself down before turning to him "Back up" which he did

Grimmjow looked at her and frowned slightly; he wondered what that was just now and why he had let her go so easily.

Sakura was deep in thought; she was still healing right now and couldn't go to where Ichigo was lying to help him; her power was only back by at least half and then there was Orihime that was still trapped here. Putting these two elements together plus having to deal with Grimmjow. The idea was crazy but just might work out.

Sakura dropped her expression and looked at him with a cold stare "Grimmjow…do you want to fight Ichigo that badly?"

He looked shocked at her "What?"

"Do you want to fight him?" she asked again staring at him and the look in her eyes stirred something inside of her; it was a feeling he was having trouble to describe with her.

"Yes" he said; Sakura looked at him calmly

"Then here's what you have to do" she said in a stoic tone

* * *

**Phew; finally finished this chapter really took a lot out of me. I hope you enjoyed it. **

**Please don't forget to review **


	20. Chapter 20

**Well my dear readers sorry for making you wait so long but because of that I've made an extra long chapter for you covering one entire battle. Hope you enjoy **

* * *

Orihime was running to her door to get away from the two she arancars Loly and Menoly who had come into her room uninvited and started attacking her. These two hated Orihime the moment she came to Las Nochas and it looked like they were waiting for the perfect chance to just come at her when Ulquiorra wasn't around.

The door was suddenly blown up by Loly and Orihime was sent flying back "Oh I'm so sorry" Loly said with sarcasm dripping from her voice and an evil smile on her face "We just dropped by to visit and it looked like you were pretty anxious to go outside so I thought I'd try to help out and open the door for you but I guess I must've over done it a bit"

Orihime turned back to them in disbelief; Loly took a few steps forward "Oh do you have something you want to say?" she folded her arms over her chest which was nearly falling out of her top "Well don't just sit there like that if you have something to say spit it out we promise we'll be nice and listen to you after all we're not monsters"

"If you don't have any business with me; I'd appreciate if you'd leave" she said sternly shocking the two girls

Loly walked up to her and got down on one knees so she was at eye level with Orihime "Just who the hell do you think you are princess?" she glared at Orihime and Orihime glared right back at her; Loly smirked and looked back at Menoly "What do you think?"

Menoly smiled and held up her cero in her hand "It's worth a try"

Orihime's eyes widened in shock as she wondered what they were planning to do; she could handle if they were going to beat her but it looks like they were going to take it further.

"We need your help with Melony's Cero it's not working too well; she can't quite control it sometimes it just shoots out all on its own!" Loly said with an evil smile plastered on her face "In fact it's gotten so bad if you're not careful you might get hit by mistake. It's totally different from the bala I shot just a few minutes ago if this one hits you it could very easily kill you"

Orihime looked down at the ground; she didn't even think about bothering to fight back with her powers "I see; I only exist to serve and do as Lord Aizen says"

Loly looked at her with pure hatred now "Listen girl don't you talk about lord Aizen don't you even say his name!" she grabbed Orihime's face roughly making her look at Loly "You don't fool me; you're full of yourself because sometimes you get to talk to Lord Aizen directly well that's not gonna fly with me you little twit!"

Orihime looked at her with a strong face and that just seemed to infuriate Loly more "Cut the attitude; I can read your face!" she grabbed Orihime by her throat "Get on your feet"

"Stop it please" Orihime said pulling herself out of Loly grip but she was smacked across the room

Loly stormed over to her and grabbed Orihime by her head "You're pathetic and weak there's no way a mere human can stand up to the power of an arancar" Orihime didn't say anything "I told you; stop acting like you're better than me!" she said in furry "You think you're so hot; I'm gonna make sure you never see Lord Aizen again!"

"Loly I think she got the message if you take things too far we'll get in trouble" Menoly said feeling her friends intent to kill

"Just shut it alright; if you don't have the guts for this then you can leave" Loly said

"What are you doing Loly?" Menoly asked but there was a blast from behind them suddenly and the three girls saw Grimmjow appearing out of the dust

"Grimmjow" Loly said in surprise

He continued to walk towards them and smirked "Well am I interrupting; I see you two walked right in when Ulquiorra wasn't around looks to me like you're having a little fun at someone's expense"

"So what of it" Menoly said wide eyes

"It's our business and how did you get in here anyway?" Loly asked

"What do you mean how; through the wall of course" he replied

"Why didn't you use the door smart ass?" Loly shot back

"Well I would have but someone seems to have blasted the thing to bits and ruined the entrance; I don't suppose you have any idea who might have done that?" he asked sarcastically and started walking towards them

"Don't mess with us" Menoly warned

"Yeah nosy bastard" Loly shot

Grimmjow continued to walked over to them until he was near Loly; he raised his hand "Get lost" and knocked her back

He turned back to where she landed "Huh; my bad I guess I used a little too much force" but his voice was uncaring

"Grimmjow" Menoly hissed coming at him with a cero in her hands she was about to blast him with it but he caught her hand and countered with his own cero that blasted her away "That was dangerous; you have to learn to use your cero more carefully"

"You won't get away with this Lord Aizen's gonna make you pay big time when he finds out what you've done" Loly said picking herself up

Grimmjow scoffed and started walking over to Loly again "Stop don't you come near me; I'm serious what are you going to do?" he didn't stop though "Get away from me; no; no!"

"BOO!" he shouted making Loly screamed and cringe in fear "You're such an idiot"

"Lord Aizen will kill you" Loly smiled "You hear me; he'll wipe you out there won't be a trace of you left when he's done!" Grimmjow kicked back "What morons like Aizen would give two cents for a couple of worthless ants like you"

"Why are you doing this?" Orihime asked him

Grimmjow looked at her "I'm returning the favour for my left arm and also I'm helping out one of your friends"

"One of my friends" Orihime asked confused "Who?"

He didn't say anything but grabbed her by her wrist "She wants you to do something for me and for her" he smirked

* * *

Sakura was pacing around the room hoping that Orihime was alright and that Grimmjow wasn't being rough with her. She had asked Grimmjow to take Orihime to Ichigo to heal him. Sakura knew how much Grimmjow wanted to fight Ichigo so she used it to her advantage and now because of that she was taking a gamble and putting all of her faith in Ichigo by doing this. It was a risk but it was the only way Sakura could think to save Ichigo's life and get Orihime out of here because she knew all of her friends were occupied and also despite that this was a risk she knew she just had to have faith and believe that everything would be alright after all doing all of that in the past was what made things better for her in the future so maybe it would work now even if she never came out of this place she would at least want everyone else to.

'It'll be alright' she tried to tell herself 'He will be fine'

Sakura nodded as she continued pacing "Yes" she murmured

Suddenly her door started opening and a figure came through taking her by surprise; Sakura stared at him wide eyes "What are you doing here?"

"Where are they?"

Sakura stared face to face with the last person she was hoping to see in this situation

'Crap'

* * *

Orihime was brought to Ichigo; in one of the rooms where there was a huge hole blasted into it that lead out into the open field of sand that was part of Las Nochas as well and she also found Nel there; Grimmjow ordered her to heal Ichigo and she did it; she saw the stab in his chest and Grimmjow told her that it was Ulquiorra who had done this to him; he explained that Sakura had wanted her to save Ichigo and because she couldn't leave she had him get Orihime after she sensed she was in danger and told him to save her and in return for that Sakura said that he must tell Orihime that she wanted her to heal Ichigo no matter what. However Orihime was still wondering why Grimmjow had agreed to this and he said it was to teach Ulquiorra not to steal someone else's prey and that he was going to have a favour returned to by Sakura for saving her and Ichigo's life. Orihime had asked why Sakura had done that and he just said that he didn't know but she was very persuasive in the deal she made with him.

Orihime continued to heal Ichigo; she was having trouble though with the wound in his chest but it was closing slowly and soon the life started to return to his eyes catching everyone's attention.

"Nel Orihime?" Ichigo stared at them in disbelief as he felt his strength starting to return to him

"Ichigo" Orihime smiled as Nel peered over her shoulder with tears in her eyes

"Ichigo" Nel cried

"If you have time to make a fuss just heal him already!" Grimmjow voice boomed as he stood up

Ichigo's eyes widened slightly "What the; Grimmjow why are you with Orihime?"

"Shut up Ichigo she's healing you alright and when you're completely healed you and I are going one on one soul reaper" he said looking over at Ichigo's form

Orihime looked at him "That can't be true is that the only reason you want him to heal?"

"Quit your whining if it wasn't for me letting you save his life he'd be dead now get to work!" he said swiping his hand in frustration "Hurry Ulquiorra will catch on to what's happening and come back and before he does-

Grimmjow was cut short when Ulquiorra appeared behind them in a flash and he wasn't alone; Sakura was standing beside him; he had a grip on her upper arm. The air grew thick around them as the tension grew. Orihime stared at Sakura with worry.

"Orihime" Sakura murmured

"Sakura" Orihime gasped

Ichigo stared at Sakura "Sakura" he gasped starring wide eyed; he looked back and for the between Grimmjow and Orihime and Sakura and Ulquiorra and wondered just what the hell was going on for the past time he was unconscious because he sure as hell was having trouble putting the pieces together.

Grimmjow and Ulquiorra were staring at each other appearing rather composed looks on their faces while everyone else was wondering where this was going.

"Ulquiorra" Grimmjow hissed

"What's going on here?" he asked Grimmjow "What are you doing?"

Keeping his grip on Sakura he started to walk forward "It seems like a simple question perhaps I need to rephrase it; why are you healing an enemy I already defeated?"

Grimmjow smirked and Ulquiorra stopped walking "You refuse to answer?"

Orihime swallowed hard as she stared at Ulquiorra; Sakura saw the worry in her face and wanted to say something to help her friend but then again she was in the same tense situation as her friend so saying anything right now might not be such a good idea. Ulquiorra was now looking at Orihime and Sakura could see she was visibly trembling slightly. Ulquiorra let go of her upper arm.

"Fine have it your way; regardless the bottom line is Lord Aizen has entrusted that girl to my care hand her over" he ordered

"I don't think I will" he smirked "How about your hand over the girl that Aizen entrusted into mine. You really didn't have any business being in that room when I was gone" he said directing his gaze to Sakura for a moment

"What did you say?" Ulquiorra asked calmly

Grimmjow's smirked widened "You heard me but just so you're clear about my position" the spiritual energy started to surround Grimmjow as his power grew "Let me demonstrate!"

He came at Ulquiorra but he was blocked off by his hand in an instant; Sakura backed away from them as Grimmjow released a cero sending Ulquiorra back but it didn't seem to have much of an effect; Grimmjow on the other hand laughed.

"Ha; you deflected that one; how many will it take before I get you?" he smirked

Ulquiorra vanished suddenly and Grimmjow couldn't find him

"GRIMMJOW ABOVE YOU" Sakura shouted; looking up he saw Ulquiorra about to fire a blast at him but he raised his hand to block it just in time.

The two of them flew out of the building and into the dust flying around from the building rubble.

Grimmjow appeared behind Ulquiorra and placed something into his hole by his chest and they saw a box like structure begin to surround him and then it vanished leaving only Grimmjow in the sky; Orihime gasped as Sakura clutched onto her gently with one hand and held Nel in the other and the shield that Orihime had set up protecting them broke

"What did you just do up there?" Orihime asked

"Aizen gave each one of the espada something called the Caja Negaccion (Negation box) which we can use to punish subordinates; I used mine just now; it's a powerful tool that can permanently seal it's victim away into another dimension but it's power is limited it's not made to be used against espada considering the strength of his spiritual pressure we've got two or three hours before he breaks free; there's no time to waste come on hurry up and heal your friend" he said

Orihime frowned "I won't do it"

Grimmjow reached out for her neck but instead grabbed Sakura's taking him by surprise; she clutched onto his hands tightly

"Don't even think about it" she hissed glaring at him strongly even though he was the one who had her by the neck.

"What do you think you're doing we had a deal" Grimmjow said loosening his grip slightly

"And I'll keep the end of it now let me go" Sakura said coldly

He backed away from her and let go of her neck; Sakura turned to Orihime as she gently rubbed her aching neck "Orihime heal Ichigo"

"But Sakura if I do then Ichigo will-

"Please do it Orihime" Ichigo's voice cut in; he was standing up now "I'm asking you to heal my wounds and Sakura" he looked at Grimmjow and saw his arm was badly burnt "I want you to heal his as well"

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes at him "Listen kid you'll find that's a big mistake I don't need your pity"

"It's not pity" Ichigo said "I assume you want us both to fight at our full strength right or am I mistaken do you plan to use your injuries as an excuse when you finally lose?"

Grimmjow drew his sword with his injured arm and swung it at Ichigo their swords were clashed together "Alright bring it on; let's have a fight to the death"

"Sounds good to me" Ichigo said as he drew back

* * *

As Sakura was healing Grimmjow's wounds on the other side of the room from Orihime and Ichigo he took the chance to speak to her.

"So why did you help me back there?" he asked he refereeing to his short fight with Ulquiorra

Sakura looked at him with blank eyes "Because when it came down to it I think I would prefer you over him any day."

Sakura knew that there was a higher difference in power comparing Ulquiorra to Grimmjow and if she was correct Ichigo stood a better chance at defeating Grimmjow considering what Ulquiorra had done to him not long ago. She herself couldn't believe the kind of condition he was in or how fast she felt his power fading. He was nothing to joke around about and she didn't believe Grimmjow was either but when she narrowed it down Ichigo was more experienced with fighting Grimmjow and there was a difference in ranking numbers that helped calculate the odds. She just hoped that Ichigo would be able to win against Grimmjow.

Grimmjow checked out his arm; the wound was gone now "Not bad"

Sakura felt a bit faint and held her head panting slightly; Grimmjow looked at her "What's up with you is that an after effect or something?"

She nodded in response as she regained her barring and stood up straight again

"Does carrot top know?" he asked

She wondered why he was being so curious but nodded again; he scoffed "Damn soul reaper sure must be a lousy boyfriend"

Sakura rolled her eyes and stated calmly "He's not my boyfriend; why does everyone keep assuming that?"

Grimmjow stood up and so did Ichigo after he consoled Nel about the fight; Sakura ran over to her friends.

"Hey" Ichigo said looking at her

"Hey" Sakura replied calmly starring right back at him with a calm look; suddenly he did something no one was expected. Ichigo took a hold of Sakura's hand and held them tightly in his as he spoke looking down.

"I need you to do me a favour" he said carefully feeling his hands tremble slightly "I want you to protect Nel and Orihime until this is over and promise me that you won't interfere with this fight no matter what"

She stared at him for a moment thinking about saying she wouldn't make a promise like that but she couldn't help herself "I promise Ichigo"

He smiled slightly "Thank you Sakura"

He walked passed her; failing to notice the look on her face when he moved away; Sakura looked down so no one would see her eyes narrowed and her mouth in a thin line. It was a look of sadness and guilt.

'Please don't make me regret doing this'

* * *

The battle stared as Ichigo and Grimmjow leapt into the air creating a huge wind that took Nel and Orihime a little by surprise. Sakura walked over to Orihime and Nel standing beside them as they watched the fight about to take place; she could feel the anxiousness radiating off of Orihime and Nel.

'Good luck Ichigo' Sakura murmured 'I know you can do it'

"Be careful Ichigo" Orihime murmured

Ichigo had transformed into his bankai state and Grimmjow watched with an amused smile on his face from above him. Their swords started to clash and there were explosions seen from above by the pillars where they were fighting. All you could really see was a lot of dust and blur of two figures.

"Ichigo" she cried Orihime and Sakura crouched down beside her and Orihime put a comforting hand on her mask; she smiled

"It'll be alright Ichigo will win the battle" Orihime smiled

"But you don't know that for sure" Nel said

Sakura smiled "But we do"

"He said trust me for sure" Orihime smiled back

Nel stood up and started scolding "Everyone says things like that you can't be sure from those words"

"You think so?" Orihime asked her smile wavering

"Absolutely" Nel said; she cried "Ichigo's probably scared-

"Ichigo will be fine" Sakura said to the two girls "He would never say he's going to win because he's afraid and he wouldn't do it to fool himself"

Orihime smiled and nodded "She's right whenever Ichigo tells you something this important he swears it like he's saying an oath; he did that when he appeared before me as a soul reaper for the first time. The same thing happened when we went to the soul society to save Rukia. He's always been like that. He does it to reassure us but more than that he's making a promise to himself. He makes a promise to himself and then he recites it out loud so it will become a reality"

"I know that I haven't known Ichigo as long as Orihime has but she's right about that; Ichigo wouldn't say anything like that just to try and fool us or to make us stop worrying and so we have to believe that he will come back to us" Sakura said turning around to face them with a small smile on her face

* * *

It looked like the battle was really getting serious now Grimmjow had been shouting something at Ichigo for a while but now he's grabbed his sword and was ready to go and so was Ichigo. Grimmjow reprimanded Ichigo for not looking like he wanted to kill him their swords began to swipe at each other again as they moved on the ground.

"I have a question for you why did you come here in the first place?" Grimmjow asked

"Are some kind of idiot Grimmjow I came here to rescue Orihime" he replied

"Ha; if that's true then why didn't you grab the girls and run the minute you saw them?" he asked smugly; Ichigo and Grimmjow continued to hold their swords against each other as they spoke "Tell me; were you relieved to see that she was unhurt or at least appeared to be on the surface?" Ichigo's eyes widened "Were you born naïve or did you just grow up that way?"

"You bastards what did you guys do to Orihime?" Ichigo hissed furiously

"Good that's it Ichigo!" Grimmjow swung his sword again "You said you came to save that girl am I right let me enlighten you since you don't seem to get it"

Grimmjow smiled and looked back at Ichigo "You're wrong the only reason you came here is to fight come on Ichigo are you even aware of the path to which your instincts have lead you? You're a soul reaper I'm a hollow the loser of this battle will be slaughtered it's been that way for over a thousand years that's all the reason you need to fight!" Grimmjow suddenly smirked widely "And if that's not enough incentive for you here's another. If you don't kill me I'll be taking that pink haired pixie back with me."

"Bastard; Sakura has nothing to do with this" Ichigo hissed

"Oh but you're wrong Ichigo. If you don't start fighting at your full strength you'll lose and I'm gonna take that girl with me back to Lord Aizen"

"Stay away from her!"

Ichigo and Grimmjow's swords started to contact again over and over and then when they pulled back it was one Getsuga tenshou against a cero.

They continued to fly through the air until they connected and then the cero flew at Ichigo but he managed to get out of the way and then Grimmjow slashed across his shoulder watching as blood gushed from Ichigo's wound before landing on the ground.

"You've got a nice murderous look in your eyes now but" Grimmjow placed his sword in the sand and cut his finger "That's not good enough; you're not at the level yet where I want this battle to take place."

A blue light started to form at Grimmjow's hand "This is the ultimate Cero which only the espada can use"

Ichigo's eyes widened as he turned to looked at Orihime; Sakura and Nel "Hold on don't release it!" he shouted but it was too late

"Gran Ray Cero" Grimmjow shouted before releasing the gran kings zero blast on Ichigo

However Ichigo and managed to hollowfy and block it at the last moment. Orihime looked shocked having never seen him in that form before.

Orihime's eyes widened as Ichigo turned around slightly with his hollow mask in place; he turned his back to the three girls.

"Sorry this frightens you doesn't it? I know it's pointless telling you not to worry when I look like this but I'll tell you anyway there's nothing to worry about" Orihime gasped lightly; Sakura placed a hand on her shoulder as she stared at Ichigo's back "I'll finish this quickly"

Grimmjow started laughing "It's about time now we can get down to business!"

Pulling his sword out his placed a hand on the top of its blade "Growl Pantera!" he shouted

There was another huge release of power surrounded the area "Orihime" Ichigo called "Use your Santen Keshun to protect you; Sakura and Nel until this is over; no matter what don't take it down"

As the energy started to grow Ichigo told Orihime to put it up now and she did; as the dust cleared Grimmjow appeared in his released form; his hair was longer; he had claws and a tail and ears and he was much more powerful. Grimmjow screamed and a shock wave was released; he attacked Ichigo suddenly and knocked him through several pillars; he had gotten much faster to and when Ichigo recovered he was knocked down into a building destroying it completely.

Ichigo appeared behind Grimmjow and used his Getsuga tenshou on him and he was enjoying this; the two were distorting the atmosphere around them without even knowing it.

Ichigo started to increase his power as well; it seemed he had finally managed to stay longer in his hollowfied state; he slashed across Grimmjow's chest which took him by surprise and they started fighting again.

From where Sakura; Orihime and Nel were watching it was like watching a fight between two espada. Orihime looked on in fright

"It's hard to believe; is that really Ichigo?" she asked

"Of course" Sakura said snapping her friend out of her daze; Orihime turned to Sakura in shock as she watched the battle so calmly "Don't think for a second that it isn't him Orihime; never doubt that. He's doing all this for you so that we can leave Las Nochas together. You have to believe in him; have faith and never doubt him for a minute"

"Sakura" Orihime whispered

Sakura narrowed her eyes as she watched battle "I know it may not seem like it but Ichigo's has complete control over this just you wait and see. I believe in that for a fact we weren't just spending that month playing around."

Nel also stared at Sakura as she was lifted up into her arms and watched the battle too.

The flash steps were making it hard to keep up with their movements and clashes but for the split seconds it appeared like they were both equally matched the only problem was how long that was going to last for them. Ichigo wouldn't be able to last too long with his mask or his hollow would consume him but if he took it off it would weaken him and he wouldn't be able to put it back on.

Grimmjow fired at Ichigo but he moved his head before it could hit however it was heading straight for Orihime and Sakura so he sped towards them before allowing himself to get hit.

"Ichigo what are you doing?" Sakura gasped

"Oh Ichigo; why" Orihime asked

Ichigo kept his head low as he spoke "I'm alright don't worry this is nothing"

He looked up and something about seeing Ichigo with his mask shocked Orihime and made her think of her brother and it looked like Ichigo noticed because he sped back down to Grimmjow without saying another word.

Sakura turned to Orihime in worry "Orihime" she called

"I mustn't be afraid" Orihime said looking down "I mustn't; no when I think about those eyes they're not Ichigo's at all it's like they belong to someone else. When he looks at me with those eyes it's like he doesn't even see me just like my brother with the same eyes"

"Orihime" Sakura murmured comfortingly; she looked out at Ichigo's fighting form "No matter what you may think you see on the outside you have to remember it will always be Ichigo on the inside"

Nel watched in worry at the sight of Ichigo as his mask began to crack slightly "Even in his hollow form master Grimmjow is still defeating him" she whimpered "Whenever Ichigo put on his mask there was no doubt that he would win; when he wore his mask there was no one who could beat him but now-

"No one will beat him" Sakura stated firmly making Nel look up at her "You can do it Ichigo!" she cheered

Nel joined in also "Come on do it I know you can!"

Orihime looked over at Nel as Sakura; Orihime was clutching her sides as if in pain; Nel turned to her "Well what are you standing there for you need to cheer him on to!"

Orihime gasped "Huh?"

"That's the best you can do?" Sakura asked "He's out there risking his life for you and all you can say is huh? Why are you so afraid of him you think he's some kind of monster?!"

"You know he has a kind heart; it's as plain as day even Nel can see it!" Nel added "And Ichigo cares about you to; he cares about you so much that when he heard your name he attacked master Ulquiorra with everything he had!"

Orihime's eyes widened as Nel continued to rant "I know he's a soul reaper now but Ichigo's still human!"

Sakura nodded as Nel continued to rant at Orihime "Think about what he's gone through I know that every time he uses that mask he exposes himself to its insane power; he has to be suffering! But because he's doing it for you he doesn't care; he endures all this pain and suffering for you; how will he feel when he doesn't even hear your voice cheering him on?!"

Orihime's eyes darted to the fight again; she thought about the whole reason she came to Hueco Mundo to the first place because she wanted to protect everyone; she thought she was ready to make any sacrifice but then when she heard that Ichigo and the others came to save her somewhere deep in her heart she was happy then she saw Ichigo wearing the mask and his eyes remembering how they looked like her brothers eyes from the night he attacked her after he became a hollow so when she saw Ichigo she thought that maybe he didn't come to save her after all but now she could see that she was wrong about that; Nel was right all Ichigo wanted to do was to protect them all of those fears mean nothing.

"I'm…..I'm not afraid of Ichigo" Orihime said "I'm only afraid Ichigo will…."

They all looked on and it looked like Ichigo was at his limit; his mask was almost gone

"Say it" Sakura said sternly

Orihime looked out at them "Please don't die Ichigo!" she shouted tears coming down her face as Ichigo turned to her "You don't have to win just don't get hurt I couldn't bear it" there were tears rolling down her face now

Sakura narrowed her eyes slightly resisting the urge to cry 'I know you won't die Ichigo; I know you'll win'

Grimmjow launched over at him again but this time Ichigo caught his clawed hand with one and turned to him with a smile "So Grimmjow here's the deal; you see I've had a change of heart and I can't allow myself to get beaten by someone like you" Grimmjow's eyes widened as Ichigo slashed through his chest in one swift movement

The three girls looked on as Grimmjow started to fall and even on his knees now he suddenly grabbed Ichigo's sword "You're a fool Ichigo I'm still here. You think that you've won; you think that you've beaten me? I'll scatter your bones in the sand!"

Grimmjow stabbed Ichigo in his stomach before backing away; Sakura felt a powerful wave from Grimmjow's spirit it was triggered by something but she didn't know what. Grimmjow attacked Ichigo again sending him flying back; she felt him become enraged.

Sakura had been paying attention to the espada she had come into contact with and had made an odd observation she failed to share with anyone because it was just a theory she had come up with but when they attain their human forms again some of their human emotions begin to develop; she concluded that when a hollow attains human form again a bit of their human selves may return as well.

**(This is just a theory I came up with for this story when I reached the end of the arancar saga since I needed a way to make sense of why Dark and soon Grimmjow act the way they do towards Sakura**)

Grimmjow sent Ichigo flying through the air again and then he came after him appearing behind he began to use an attack that none of them have seen before; as beams of light appeared from his talons

Ichigo flew back and stared in shock "What the hell is that?"

Grimmjow grinned "Desagarron; it's my ultimate technique" he slashed at Ichigo and the huge claw like beams came flying at him; he blocked it with his sword but was still being sent back and the beams haven't vanished either. As Ichigo was pushed back he moved out of the way and Grimmjow laughed

"I am the king!" he shouted

'That sounds familiar' Sakura thought

Ichigo ran his sword through one of the beams until it eventually cracked like glass and shattered all over.

"You know I got news for you" Ichigo said "You're not the only one who wants to win"

"What's that?" Grimmjow asked glaring at him

"You wanna kill me because of how I look at you?" he asked "Well I know how you feel!"

He charged at Grimmjow as he launched another attack but Ichigo ran his sword through it again; Ichigo had lost all the fear in his eyes and now it looked deadly

"You were right before; you said that I came here because I wanted to fight!" he shouted as he made his way through the attack to Grimmjow "The real reason I came here was to defeat you! So I'm going to destroy you and Ulquiorra and I'm going to defeat Aizen!" Ichigo let his thoughts wonder to all of his friends "And then I'm going to take all of my friends and bring them home safe with me! I won't lose to you!"

When Ichigo finished he had reached Grimmjow and had struck him dead on with his sword and it didn't look like Grimmjow had the strength to come back and counter. As Ichigo drew his sword out Grimmjow started to fall to the ground.

'It's over' Sakura thought amazed as she watched Grimmjow fall

Ichigo grabbed a hold of Grimmjow's wrist and then placed Grimmjow down safely on the ground.

After that Ichigo flew up over to Nel; Orihime and Sakura. Orihime returned her shield back to normal.

"Are you alright?" Orihime asked concerned

Ichigo smiled "I was gonna ask you that" he said looking up at them; Nel suddenly tackled Ichigo sending them flying back and his sword flying towards Sakura and Orihime. Sakura caught it with one hand and stuck it in the ground.

"Are you crazy; I'm standing in mid-air; you would've fallen hundreds of feet to your death if I never caught you did you even think this though!?" he shouted clutching onto Nel

"Nel's so happy" she cried "Ichigo you're alive; Nel's so happy"

Ichigo's eyes softened and he smiled at her "Thanks Nel; I appreciate it"

He flew back over to Sakura and Orihime; he gave Nel to Orihime

and held out his hands to the two girls "We should go everyone's waiting for us"

Ichigo suddenly grabbed a hold of Orihime and Sakura and wrapped his arms around their waists

"Ichigo what are you doing?" Orihime stuttered

"I figured it would be easier to carry you guys down than to look for a stair way" he said

Sakura shook her head and placed a hand on his chest "Ichigo; I'm fine I can get down by myself besides I'm pretty heavy"

"Nah don't worry about it; you're not as heavy as you look" Ichigo said

Nel suddenly hit Ichigo's leg hard making him scream and look down at her in Orihime's arms "What the hell?"

"That is not how you speak to a lady" Nel said looking at him "There are rules when speaking about these kinds of topics. No matter what she weighs you always tell her she's light as air even if she's a hippo"

Sakura sighed and shook her head "Nel that's not helping"

* * *

Ichigo brought Sakura; Orihime and Nel safely to the ground

"Alright then I gotta go; after all someone's gotta go help Chad and Rukia" Ichigo said

"What about us" Nel asked "You're not just gonna leave us here"

Ichigo shook his head "Nah; I wouldn't do that just come with me; it's too dangerous to stay here anyway"

"Ichigo" Sakura whispered and pointed behind him

Ichigo turned around in shock as he saw Grimmjow standing there looking really beat down and panting heavily.

"Ichigo" Orihime murmured in worry

Ichigo raised his sword as Grimmjow stalked towards them; his released state vanished and he was back to his old form again. He looked beaten down really bad.

"You can't defeat me" he said "Look at you; you're too weak….I would never lose to you!" he shouted charging at Ichigo but then something unexpected happened.

Sakura appeared ahead of Ichigo and clutched Grimmjow's wrist in a strong grip. Narrowing her eyes at him as Ichigo looked at them before speaking.

"Just let it go; Grimmjow; you've already lost. You say you're some kind of king but killing everyone you happen to dislike makes you a king with no subject what's the point in that? If you truly hate me I'll fight you anytime you want but for now you need to give up"

Grimmjow looked down clenching his jaw as Sakura released her grip on Grimmjow's wrist

"With that Grimmjow our deal has come to an end" Sakura stated coldly starring at the espada "You fought and you lost leave it at that. You don't have any reason to fight Ichigo anymore because you got your answer"

With that being said she walked away from Grimmjow and back to Ichigo, Orihime and Nel.

"The reason I have is different now" he said looking at Ichigo

Grimmjow raised his sword and got ready to attack Ichigo when another blade a huge blade came out of nowhere and struck him down instantly.

Following the blade they saw another arancar standing there; he had long black hair and purple eyes and was carrying a huge blade "You just don't know when to call it quits; hurry up and die I want him for myself"

Sakura frowned; Ichigo wouldn't be able to defeat an opponent like that looking the way he is, she could feel the power radiating off of this one and it was dangerous.

"Who are you?" Ichigo asked "Are you an espada"

Grimmjow groaned and looked forward "Nnoitra you bastard"

"What is this?" he asked smiling "Are you still alive?"

He used his huge blade and was about to strike Grimmjow; Sakura covered him so she would take the blow when Ichigo blocked him; Nnoitra smiled amused

"Well what are you doing?"

"You tell me first" Ichigo demanded "Why would you attack a guy who can't even move?"

Nnoitra sent Ichigo flying back before he turned to Grimmjow and Sakura "Grimmjow you are a miserable sight; first you lose to this and then they protect you, ridiculous"

Grimmjow didn't say anything he was still slightly shocked about what had happened; he stared at Sakura as she glared at Nnoitra. Sakura pushed her arms up and glared at Nnoitra as he turned around and looked at Ichigo "Alright soul reaper what's your name?"

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki" Ichigo replied

Nnoitra smiled "Ichigo huh; I'll remember that but the thing is…you won't be alive much longer!" he shouted and there was another powerful wave of energy hitting them

Sakura watched as Ichigo was knocked through the air; she stared as her worries were confirmed; he was too strong for Ichigo.

Sakura looked over at Grimmjow and started to erase his wounds but she didn't give him back his spiritual pressure; she wouldn't be able to handle the strain and probably pass out if she did that with his kind of power and also she didn't want him going after Ichigo.

"Taiyo no kisu" she said quickly and he started to heal him it didn't take long before his wounds were gone but he was still feeling pretty weak.

Sakura turned her attention to Ichigo and saw that he was losing to Nnoitra

"Ichigo, no!" exclaimed Orihime running towards him

Nnoitra looked over at her and shouted "Tesra" suddenly another arancar appeared and pushed Orihime to the ground.

"ORIHIME" Ichigo shouted

"ORIHIME" Sakura shouted after Ichigo; she got up to get her away from the espada but Grimmjow grabbed a hold of her wrist. She looked back at him.

"Wait" he said "Don't be stupid; he's the fifth espada"

Sakura's eyes widened "The fifth?" she looked at Ichigo and saw Nnoitra and Ichigo's swords connect again.

She pulled one her wrist until Grimmjow released her "Thanks for the warning but it doesn't matter" she pulled out her sword and looked ahead with fearless eyes "Even if it kills me I won't let Ichigo be killed. It's my fault he's here in the first place"

As she struggled Grimjow held onto her wrist making it near impossible to move "Stop it Grimmjow let of me I have to help him" she said

Grimmjow looked at her seriously "Stop it you idiot all you'll do is get yourself killed"

"And why the hell do you care?" Sakura couldn't help but hiss in fury

Ichigo ducked his head as the huge blade came at him "Let go of Orihime!"

"Oh so you're one of those the kind of hero that thinks if his girls safe you actually have a shot at taking me down? Well I have news for you" Nnoitra stuck out his tongue and there was the number five on it

Ichigo's eyes widened in shock "So now you know my rank that careless peace of garbage you barely managed to defeat back there you know I rank higher than he does." He pointed at Ichigo "You're as good as dead…." He smiled at Ichigo's frozen form "Look at that I forgot your name" he threw his weapon at Ichigo but Ichigo moved back just in time but Nnoitra was fast and emerged in front of him before kicking him back into the sand.

"Stop it" Orihime cried "Can't you see that Ichigo is hurt"

"Shut up you ignorant little fool who cares if he's injured or not this is a battle not a fair fight a battle is a monster from which any equality and intolerance are born; a battle forms in stages first there's hate and then hell is unleashed for various reasons that makes an enemy and everything pulses towards a battle. You think you can come and wonder into your enemy's back yard cause a ruckus with all that fighting and expect to sneak out without being noticed?" he glared at Ichigo's injured form "Bring it on obviously I watched you fight against Grimmjow from the beginning so I already know your every move before you even make it" he smiled cruelly

Ichigo came at Nnoitra again as he swung his huge blade at Ichigo at the last moment he moved himself out of the way but Nnoitra caught Ichigo's sword and threw him back like a rag doll.

Suddenly Orihime realised Nel was gone and so did Sakura; she spotted Nel behind a rock that was blasted away by the arancar holding Orihime captive; Sakura quickly freed her wrist and flash stepped over to Nel catching her.

"Sakura" Nel looked up at her

Suddenly there was a large shadow looming over them and they saw Nnoitra looking at them "Nel" Nel looked up at him and he smirked

"Boy, you really let yourself become all shabby huh? That scare gives you away. Tell me does you mask throb after it's been cracked?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him and held Nel protectively to her chest "I wonder what possible reason you would have for coming back here again?" Nnoitra asked and there was annoyance in his voice "Did you bring her here soul reaper?"

Ichigo looked shocked "Don't bother I can tell from your expression that's a yes; funny you've been dragging her around without ever knowing who she is"

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked

The arancars smile grew "Well if you don't know I'll tell you; you only know her as Nel but her full name is Neliel Tu Odelshwanck she's a former espada"

Ichigo and Sakura eyes widened in shock "She was an espada?" Sakura asked in disbelief

"Surprised huh; so all this time you thought she was a helpless orphan such ignorance you've all tricked by that little witch it's an absolute fact she's one of the espada's that right Neliel" Nnoitra looked at her

"It's a lie" Nel whimpered "Nel could never be an espada it's not even possible"

"Oh stop all this joking around and start telling the truth don't tell me you've completely forgotten your past"

"Nel knows it; Nel knows all her past; Nel didn't forget; Nel could never be an espada"

Nnoitra scoffed "You know I haven't seen you in a while but to me it's obvious that you're as devious as ever; you've got them all tricked into believing you really needed help; you got them to bring you this deep into Las Nochas"

"Nel didn't trick anybody honest not Nel" she said in a feeble voice trying to hide her fear

"So why did you come back here?" he asked her "You must have a reason; did you come here looking like you do to finally settle things between us?"

Sakura's eyes widened further "What?"

"No; Nel doesn't have a purpose" she looked up at Sakura and her eyes started to water as she clutched onto her "It's all been fun for Nel until now really Nel remembers is all is fun"

She started to think back to when she first met the group and how they got through everything together "Nel still wanted to be with everyone; it's just that Nel didn't want to say goodbye to them"

"Don't cry Nel" Sakura said rocking her gently

"Quit with your heartfelt story this little kid thing you're trying isn't working; I've blown your cover; you're lying is over" Nel gaped at him

Nel looked at them "Nel never lied to you never; Ichigo; Sakura please believe Nel; Nel would never lie to you"

"You're blubbering is so irritating I've heard enough" Nnoitra was about to kick them but Ichigo appeared and shoved his foot away.

"We know you Nel of course you would never lie to us" Ichigo said

"Ichigo" she cried

"No need for crying" Ichigo said "Me; Sakura; Orihime all of us trust you; we don't feel like you've been using us and hey who cares if you used to be an espada I believe in the Nel who's here right now"

Nnoitra smirked he raised his sword at Ichigo and flung it down "Don't make me laugh!"

As the two started to fight again it was clear as day that Ichigo was at a huge disadvantage right now and the chances of him succeeding were low near impossible. Ichigo was sent flying back and it looked like it was going to take him a while now to recover.

Sakura held onto Nel as Nnoitra started coming back to them "Perhaps you really have lost your memory of the old days; I means it's possible after all I did split your head pretty well back then maybe you couldn't avoid losing your memory after that"

Sakura's gasped and glared at him "Your say you split her head?"

"I did" he smiled "I'm the one that did it to her; I'm the one who cracked her skull" Nnoitra raised his sword for her again but Ichigo interfered knocking Sakura and Nel back. Sakura landed safely and watched as Nnoitra was unharmed by Ichigo's blade and he sent Ichigo back again hard.

Sakura put Nel down on the ground "Sakura" Nel called

"Stay here Nel" she said

Ichigo looked beat down on the ground; he panicked when he saw Sakura coming over to him. She held out her sword in front of her form and directed it at Nnoitra.

"What's this you're going to fight now?" he asked amused getting his weapon ready; he swung it at her and Sakura effortlessly stopped it.

"What?" Nnoitra was surprised

Sakura breathed in deeply; she knew she didn't have all of her spirit energy returned yet and the healing she done didn't help this situation either but she let her eyes wonder over to Nel; she would have to try.

"Now hunt…Kuresento Kage Rozu!" Sakura's zampakuto changed into a scythe and then Sakura spoke the words "Bankai!" a large spiritual pressure started to build up around Sakura and then revealed Sakura in her bankai state.

Sakura attacked Nnoitra with her scythe with such speed he could barely comprehend what had happened before he was launched back.

"Sakura" Ichigo stared at her; this was the first time he has seen her in her bankai form before; the red hood and large scythe and the overwhelming power was incredible.

"Damn you girl" Nnoitra ran towards her but Sakura blocked him off with her bare hand on his blade and then flicked her finger sending him flying back again before she appeared in front of him and shot him with one of her beams from her Scythe.

"Tenshi Hanata"

Nnoitra climbed out from the rubble angry now; he looked at Sakura infuriated by her now

"Why you…..DIE!" He through his weapon towards her and then they started to clash in a sword fight but Sakura was holding on well against him. She had a calm look on her face as she fought even though this wasn't even her full strength.

Sakura blocked him again but she didn't try to cut him because she knew that there was a good chance that much like Ichigo it would be the same result. As his blade came over to her again Sakura jumped up onto it and raising her leg high she kicked Nnoitra back before leaping back herself.

Nnoitra got up "You can't defeat me!"

Sakura smiled "It doesn't matter whether I can defeat you or not I will protect Nel and my friends no matter what happens to me" she stated

Nnoitra smiled "Then you have chosen to die"

Sakura got ready for his next move but unlike before he didn't come straight at her and instead he got ready to blast a cero at her; Sakura prepared to protect herself with a shield when he suddenly vanished and aimed the cero at Ichigo and threw his weapon at Nel.

'Oh no" she thought worriedly; thinking on her feet Sakura created a shield on Nel to stop the weapon from getting to her and then used her body to block Ichigo from the cero which hit her instead causing a lot of damage to her. Sakura kept her arms and legs out as she protected Ichigo.

"Sakura" Ichigo gasped

Nnoitra smirked and then Sakura was flung across the desert coughing out blood as the huge sword connected with her. Ichigo watched in horror as Nnoitra came at her; he attempted to get up again but his body was weakened from the fighting.

"No Ichigo" Sakura shouted still on the ground "Don't do it!"

Nnoitra scoffed and unexpectedly hit Ichigo back with his blade as well; Nel watched with tear filled eyes as the two soul reapers got tossed around.

Sakura winced; her left arm was badly injured. She didn't give up though. She attempted to get up when she felt Nnoitra presence behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw him; he pulled Sakura up only to punch her back down.

"No; Sakura; Ichigo" Nel cried

Nnoitra grabbed a hold of her arm and started pulling at her wrist close to breaking it "Now let's end this" Sakura screamed in pain

"Sakura" Orihime shouted

"Sakura" Ichigo murmured weakly trying to get up "N-No"

Sakura kept screaming and then something snapped.

"SAKURA"


	21. Chapter 21

**Well my wonderful readers I have finally updated sorry it took so long and I wish I could make the battle scenes longer I lost so many of my episodes when my parents had my computer wiped so I'm not able to go back and edit this as well as I would like to. Sorry for that anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

"SAKURA" Nel's voice rang through the air as if it was the only source of sound for miles; it got everyone's attention just in time to witness the next surprising event there was a puff of smoke behind them; Nnoitra turned around in shock as a strange new spiritual pressure started to grow.

'What is this?' Orihime thought feeling the sudden burst of power around her

Sakura and Ichigo turned their heads; they saw a tall; busty women with long greenish blue hair like Nel; a mask like Nel's completely in tack and wearing a two peace of what looked like Nel's clothes it didn't take too long for it to click in their minds that standing before them was in fact an older Nel. The true Nel; her eyes were no longer that of innocence and playfulness but full of anger and malice.

"Is that Nel?" Orihime asked in shock

Nnoitra looked at her "So Nel you've reverted to your old form have you?"

Without saying a word she vanished and then reappeared behind him to grab Sakura and then Ichigo before taking both of them away from him. She settled them down on the other side.

"Nel" Ichigo asked still in shock

"What in the world?" Sakura gasped clutching her arm in pain

"Are you really the same Nel?" Ichigo asked because this person seemed far from the Nel he had come to know.

Nel smiled and nodded "I am; thanks to you and Sakura I was able to return to my old self again"

"Thanks to us" Ichigo asked in disbelief

Nel's smile didn't waver an inch "Yes; you always made the choices to protect me and then you brought me all the way here with you. Please stay still for a bit; this time I'll protect both of you"

Sakura smiled slightly at Nel; she could feel Nel's strength. It wasn't something she thought possible but looking at the arancar now she knew that it was. This gave her a sliver of hope.

"Wait Nel" Ichigo called worried "By protect you don't mean….don't tell me that you plan on fighting this guy?"

Nel stood up and looked at them "Don't worry it'll be over before you know it" she said

When she turned around the two soul reapers got a glimpse of the number 3 on her back and their eyes widened looking at her former rank. It was a surprise to find that she was this strong really.

Sakura winced when she tried to sit up; Nel had gone to fight now.

"Don't move" Ichigo said looking at her with worried eyes now; he saw just how badly injured Sakura was right now. Her arm was wounded; so was her one side and there were the burns on her body from blocking the cero.

"Why would you do that?" Ichigo murmured clenching his fists; here he thought he was in bad shape but compared to her...

'This is all my fault' he thought

"Because I fought to protect something" she replied calmly looking over at Ichigo

He helped her sit up wrapping his arms around her shoulders to keep her up as she leaned against him for support.

"Sakura I'm-

"Don't say sorry Ichigo" she warned him looking at him with firm eyes "I brought this on myself got it?"

'Why is she doing this?' Ichigo thought; he couldn't fathom how she could be so calm after what just happened to her; from what she had gone through. Ichigo couldn't help but think that this was all his fault if he hadn't dragged her into this battle she wouldn't be in this situation.

Ichigo's watched as her eyes softened "Right now the only person you should be worried about it Nel"

Letting his eyes trail back to the battle field he was having trouble believing that that was really their Nel fighting out there. She had actually wounded Nnoitra there was blood on his chest where they guessed she struck him. She was fast and strong; much more than they thought possible to be honest.

As Nnoitra swung his sword at her she dodged it with ease and was able to strike him without using her weapon. He attacked with a huge yellow cero but Nel stopped it with one hand swallowed the giant beam and deflected it back at him creating a huge explosion when it hit him.

"Master Nnoitra!" shouted the other arancar who ran out after him; letting go of Orihime

She ran over to Ichigo and Sakura

"Are you guys alright?" she asked getting closer to them "Just a minute; I'll heal you in a second"

The two soul reapers were looking at Nel's back; she turned around and started running to them and enveloped both of them in a painful bear crushing hug.

"How great; I'm so relieved you're alright" she said happily squeezing the life out of them; her hugs were a lot less cuter when she was stronger than them and they were injured

"Hey wait a minute Miss Nel you're crushing them; they're eyes have rolled back and that's not good you're going to kill them!" Orihime said as she appeared in front of them

Nel pulled back when the two of them stopped but that just made her panic and hug them tighter than before

"Don't die!" she said hugging them harder making them both gasp for air

"Miss Nel you're doing it again!" Orihime cried Nel suddenly stopped and pulled back they saw Tesra being sent flying back into a pile of rocks.

Looking back they saw Nnoitra standing there "Who the hell told you to release the girl?"

Tesra got up "Yes sir I'm sorry"

They all watched in surprise as he was still alive only the one side of his was singed indicating that he must have somehow avoided it at the last moment.

"What is it?" he asked them "I thought this was going to be over quickly but I guess not huh Neliel? After all you hit me with a cero that you absorbed combined with your own; I can see in your eyes you're asking yourself why am I still alive; it completely slipped my mind cero double was a specialty of yours I should've played it more carefully but there is something you've forgotten as well. Many years have gone by since you've disappeared from this place my dear; don't tell me you're under the impression that the espada's rankings are still the same after all this time?"

Nel turned to them calmly "Ichigo; Sakura you both need to rest"

"What about you?" Sakura asked

Nel looked at them firmly "No it's alright; he's all mine this time it's my turn to protect you two"

Standing up Nel got ready to fight again "I really didn't want to use this" she said

Nel held out her sword horizontally "Praise" her sword started to glow pink and then after and huge explosion happened and there was a surge of amazing power as Nel went into a transformed state. She had a horse's lower body now and her sword had changed as well into what looked like some kind of spear.

She flung it at Nnoitra sending him back a few feet and piercing him in his chest; Nel went over to Nnoitra and pulled it out of his chest glaring at him with an uncaring face. "This is it Nnoitra it's over"

"Is that what you think?"

"Don't play innocent relax I don't intend to kill you" she said raising her spear high however just as she threw it there was a cloud of smoke and the child Nel appeared suddenly. Everyone's eye widened in shock as she turned back to normal.

"What; why is Nel small again?" she asked herself Nnoitra stepped in front of her with a vicious look on his face

He started laughing "You're right Neliel it is over!" Sakura saw this coming and quickly appeared in front to protect Nel but she wasn't able to avoid him and both of them were sent flying into a pile of rocks Sakura taking the full force of the blow as she clutched Nel protectively to her chest.

"Stop it" Ichigo shouted ignoring the pain and running towards him to attack "Leave them alone!"

As he came towards him Nnoitra shoved Ichigo's head to the ground

"Sakura; Ichigo" Orihime was about to heal them when Tesra grabbed her again making her unable to help them.

"Give it up soul reaper Neliel was your absolute last ray of hope; it has now been extinguished; it's over for all of you at this point you can't win" he looked up "Tesra he's all yours go for it; he's got nothing left to fight with; do what you want with him"

"Yes sir" Tesra let goes of Orihime and she started running towards Ichigo but Nnoitra grabbed her from behind and restrained her arms and covered her mouth.

"Keep still my pet; yes you just keep watch from here quietly this should be amusing"

Tesra brought out his swords summoning his zampakuto and transformed into a beastly looking hollow; it's mask looked like a boars skull with huge tusks and he as bit as a house with hooves for feet and fur over his entire form there wasn't a trace of human form left; with his large hoof he stomped on Ichigo making him scream out in pain and agony and then picking him up he flung Ichigo to the ground; he did this repeatedly before attempting to crush him in his hands.

Orihime watched in agony complexly helpless unable to move away to save him; she felt her heart wretch at the sight; she peered over to where Sakura lied in the rubble; she was in no better shape. Things were not looking well for them.

Sakura's head pounded in pain and her muscles ached as she slowly came to; she felt a small weight on her chest but she couldn't move. It hurt.

'Why?' she thought 'Why does it hurt so much? I can't move my body...I can't even move my fingers...I've don't think I've ever felt this kind of pain before'

Sakura started to come back; she woke up dizzy with her muscles basically screaming for her not to move and she woke up to the sounds of screams that made her heart ache; she looked down at Nel she had clutched in her arms safe.

'Why?' she thought again; her eyes dull. This was all pointless; in the end the power they had wasn't enough; it just wasn't enough. Just like before.

Sakura winced as the pain washed over her again; she heard the screams still and forced herself to turn her head and find the source of those screams. She felt her heart pound in pain as she looked at Ichigo being crushed in the hands of a huge arancar.

'Ichigo!' her eyes widened in fear

Sakura gasped in horror as she watched Ichigo fall unconscious but then awakened when he was kicked into the air. Sakura saw the hollow get closer and closer to his form and then kick him back hard waking him up in pain and she saw Nnoitra holding Orihime back.

The arancar grabbed a hold of Ichigo's head and looked like he was about to crush it.

"N-No" she whimpered trying to stand up but it wasn't any use; her body was too beat down; she had never ever experienced anything like this painful sensation every part of her body refused to listen to her. Ichigo was picked up and slammed into the rubble of a pillar.

'S-Stop'

"I-chi-go" she murmured then as Ichigo tried to fight back the hollow snapped his arm that was holding his sword as he screamed in pain

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Tesra looked over at the sound of the sudden screech; it was ear piercing and it seemed to be getting louder; the wind started to pick up and the sky's that weren't even real began to darken into a dark colour then violet crystal like shapes started to form in the sky and it was all starting to centre around something; there was the silhouette of a form and red eyes staring back through all the sudden eruption. The power kept on growing and they all turned around and saw Sakura but she was different than before; her hollow mask was on but it looked completely attached to her like it was a real hollow face; her pink hair became a deep violet colour; her arms and legs had turned completely white and on her back was a pair of huge bat like wings.

"Sakura" Orihime gasped

"What is this?" Nnoitra asked

Sakura charged at the arancar in her new state red and purple mist followed her as she sped towards Tesra; he reached for her to attack but when he did Sakura struck and his arm went flying off.

Ichigo began to fall but Sakura rushed over to him and caught him mid air before placing him softly on the ground and then with a snap of her fingers a dark shield surrounded him and started to heal him. Turning her attention back to the arancar as it came for her again Sakura sent it flying back in one swift motion. It landed hard against the ground.

Orihime watched in amazement and shocked; she couldn't wrap her head around what she was seeing. This didn't seem like Sakura at all; her power was stronger and her spiritual pressure didn't feel the same. It was like this was Sakura fighting but also something else and she didn't like it. While she could still feel more of Sakura than of whatever the other thing was it still scared her.

Orihime looked up at the sky's that had changed; this power was so dark yet she knew it was Sakura's. Looking at the way she was now it was as though she was losing her sanity.

"Sakura" Ichigo called as he opened his eyes seeing that he was getting healed but this time it was different than her sun kiss it felt darker but it was more powerful.

Ichigo looked up and gasped; that wasn't the same Sakura she was different now. Her hair began to change colours as well as her power increased and the entire area started to shake.

"What happening? Sakura!"

When Ichigo shouted her name she stopped and looked down at him "Ichigo" she said in her hollow voice suddenly the arancar returned and with his remaining hand knocked Sakura hard; she wasn't able to avoid it but she wasn't affected by it either. When Sakura turned around she went frantic and attacked Tesra with everything she had. She raised her sword and was about to cut him in half when all of her sudden her power began to fade. The sky turned back to normal and her mask slowly cracked before eventually it was gone and her wings fell off before she was back to normal and her violet coloured hair returned back to pink.

Sakura felt herself weaken as she fell to her knees 'What was that?'

Nnoitra laughed "So it was just a fluke after all? Tesra finish her now"

"Sakura" Orihime called out for her but she didn't move, she just couldn't aside from Nnoitra holding her captive she was frozen in fear.

Ichigo stood up not completely healed; the pain was all gone but he could still fell that his spiritual pressure was just returning to him however before it could be completely Ichigo broke out of the shield using his sword and ran up to cover Sakura from the fist that was coming down on her. He waited for the impact but instead it never came. Ichigo looked up and his eyes widened.

"What's going on here?" A familiar voice asked him "You're in a real fix aren't you Ichigo?"

"Kempachi" Ichigo looked in shock and thought he might be hallucinating "Are you really Kempachi?"

"Huh you better hope that I am have they knocked you around so much your brain is gone?" he asked Ichigo

"And just who might you be?" asked Tesra

Kempachi just stared at him in return

"I see you don't intend you answer" he clenched his one fist "Very well then I'll kill you"

Nnoitra let go of Orihime "Don't charge you idiot! Get back Tesra" but it was too late; Kempachi cut him down the middle killing him instantly. Kempachi swung his sword to get rid of the blood then looked over at Nnoitra

"So you next" he said pointing his sword at him "Come on; you're next right?"

"Kempachi" Ichigo called as he cradled Sakura's unconscious form "I don't get it why are you here? I thought the soul society had pulled out of this fight"

Kempachi suddenly kicked him back taht sent him flying through the air and landing back on the ground further away; Ichigo coughed up sand and glared at him "You jerk; watch it; I'm still holding her you know!" he shouted mad for that particular reason

"I see; you feeling better?" he asked

"I was until you kicked me in the gut!" Ichigo shot back at him "What's the story?"

"Kisuke Urahara" he replied making Ichigo's eyes bulge as he thought back "Seems that a while ago he was given a bunch of orders from the old man that was back when the show down was set for winter; Kisuke was ordered to stabilize this underground cavern called the Garganta; he was to make sure it was safe so captain level personal could pass through to Hueco Mundo. They expected it would take him three months to finish the job but Kisuke claimed he'd be done with it in one months' time before he could carry out his assignment your friend Orihime got snatched away"

"Yeah so Kenny's here because that caver finally got fixed up isn't that great?" Yachiru asked; the two looked in shocked as the young pink haired girl appeared out of the captain's cloak

"Yachiru you just keep your mouth shut" Kempachi said

At this very moment unknown to the group the other captains were here as well helping the other members of the group that Included Kurosuchi helping out Uryuu and Renji with their arancar problem; Byakuya coming to save Rukia from another espada that showed up to kill her off and Captain Unohana helping to rescue Chad and heal the others.

Kempachi and Nnoitra blades connected "Come on I've waited quite a while for this"

"Stop it Kempachi you can't just jump into this fight" Ichigo said

"Stay out of this didn't you just get beat up?" he asked smiling slightly

"What was that?" Ichigo frowned suddenly Yachiru came in out of nowhere and kicked him in the face

"No you don't Ichi; you have to stay out of this one" she said looking over at Kempachi "Because Kenny has that look on his face" she jumped up onto a rock and shouted for him "Kenny it's all good now"

"Yachiru stay right there" he smiled

"Right!" she replied

As the two continued fighting at a blood thirsty level Ichigo then remembered he had a very weakened very injured Sakura in his arms. Ichigo stood up and ran over to Orihime.

"Orihime quick heal her please" he begged

"Right" Orihime said forming a shield around Sakura's form; for a while though nothing seemed to change

"What's going on?" Ichigo asked worriedly

"I don't know" Orihime said holding her hands up and trying harder to reject the damage "What's the matter with her? It's almost like she's completely out of spirit energy"

Ichigo thought back to that power Sakura had unleashed and his eyes widened in fear "She used some kind of technique that was different from her Taiyo no Kisu; this one was a lot stronger; she told me once that this kind of thing drained a lot out of her and that was just using her sun kiss so whatever this was must have taken a lot out of her"

Orihime nodded in understand "You're right and then there's also that Sakura didn't have a lot of spiritual pressure to begin with"

"What?" Ichigo asked

"When Aizen brought me to her; he told me to heal her wounds and then stop before I could return all of her spiritual pressure not to mention it was hard enough trying to return what she had left because our power clashes; physical and internal wounds I can reject but spiritual pressure like hers…"

Ichigo clenched his fists; she had just risked her life to save his even when Sakura was at her limit she pushed further and beyond the point if only for a few minutes and saved his life and the others to. He needed her to wake up; to wake up so that he could scold her for taking such a big risk; for her to open her eyes so he could see them; so that he could see her smile at him. She couldn't leave things like this.

Ichigo watched as Sakura's body began to heal; her wounds closed and the battle marks vanished but she still never opened her eyes.

"Please wake up Sakura; wake up"

* * *

Sakura looked around where she was; there was nothing but fog for miles on end; the ground felt damp beneath her feet. The mist started to clear and Sakura saw she was in a forest; there was nothing else here thought just trees no signs of animals either; looking down at her attire she saw she was no longer a soul reaper and was wearing a red zip up top and shorts with a light brown skirt. She kept walking but no matter how much she continued to walk she didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

"Where on earth am I?" Sakura asked herself as she kept walking around the place; somehow this forest it felt familiar for her; it gave a feeling of comfort for her and she didn't know why; she's never been here before that was for sure.

'So strange huh; Kyora' Sakura tried contacting her hollow telepathically but it didn't work; she didn't reply; she tried again but nothing so she just gave up on trying to call her although she was also worried this has never happened before. She continued to tread on the new ground for a while now.

'I wonder how I got here' she thought to herself; she looked down at her clothing again 'I wonder why I'm dressed like this?' that should be the least of her problems though and she knew it; she was in a strange area that felt familiar and she had no idea where she was. What a strange looking place it was though interesting but strange nonetheless.

"Hello" Sakura tried calling out but there was no reply; Sakura narrowed her eyes as she tried to see anything but there was nothing around.

Sakura looked around as the mist started to clear up a little; Sakura saw something move in the distance a kind of shadow. Sakura ran after it without really thinking; all she wanted was to leave; to return to Ichigo and the others.

"Wait please" Sakura called out running after the shadow figure "I need to find a way out of here please"

Sakura heard a strange giggling noise and started looking for it; it sounded like a child laughing and giggling together. She tried to sense the source of the voice but she couldn't feel anything.

"Where are you?" Sakura called

She looked around the area again and then spotted the shadow for a moment before it vanished again; now she was starting to feel her heart beating in her chest. The fog started to clear.

'How could you?' a voice suddenly asked 'How could you forget?'

With her eyes wide Sakura started to look for the source of that voice it 'Do you not care anymore?'

Sakura looked around "What are you talking about?"

There was silence again. As the mist cleared Sakura could see very clearly where she was right now; the trees were coloured all different colours and it's leaves were constantly falling like the ones in her inner world; she looked at the ground and the grass wasn't green it was a shade of light violet; Sakura looked up at the sky that was obscured by the fog and saw that it wasn't blue but a different shade of many colours like the northern lights.

"Where on earth am I?" she asked again hoping someone would give her an answer through for some reason she dreaded knowing. Sakura wracked at her brain why this place reminded her of her inner world. She didn't see her zampakuto or Kyora here so it couldn't belong to her.

"Sakura" a voice whispered through the air but it sent chills down her spine

"Who's there?" she asked warily

'Go back' a child's voice whispered to her

"Back where?" she asked looking around keeping her guard up but then there was silence again; as she was about to give up Sakura saw something a little ahead of her; running towards it she saw a bed in the middle of the field but that wasn't what caught her attention it was the girl floating in mid-air above the bed; she wasn't moving; and although this girl held a human form she didn't feel human to Sakura for some reason. There was a dark feeling about this girl and yet Sakura seemed drawn to it.

She reached out to touch her but as she did something appeared in Sakura's mind; an image of some kind. It was just flashes and she couldn't really make out any faces in the images that flashed through her but there was silver; onyx and blonde hair and these eyes; deep blue and also red….it triggered something within her as she saw tears slip down the faces of the people she couldn't identify and then in stopped.

Sakura gasped and rubbed her head "What on earth was that?" she asked herself

She turned her attention back to the girl "Who is this?"

"Go back" a voice whispered through the air again "Back to the beginning"

Sakura looked up at the sky in confusion "What on earth does that mean?"  
"Go back" it repeated again and Sakura couldn't take it anymore she clutched her head in agony

"Where I don't know!" she shouted "Who are you; leave me alone!"

She cried out then "I only want to go back to…..Ichigo"

"Sakura" Ichigo's voice called out for her this time and Sakura looked around excitingly

"Ichigo"

"Sakura"

* * *

Opening her eyes; her vision was blurry and then as she started to focus she saw deep brown eyes and spikey orange hair and her body felt a wave of relief wash over her; she sat up quickly as Ichigo steadied her. She looked up at him and then to Orihime who looked a little tired. Sakura looked over her wounds and saw that they were healed completely and half of her spirit energy was back again.

"What happened?" Sakura asked touching her head lightly as she thought about those voices and that weird place she was just in. There was an explosion from behind and she saw Kempachi and Nnoitra battling it out and it looked like the captain was enjoying it.

"What on earth?" Sakura questioned

"You've been unconscious for a while now; god you scared the crap out of us don't do that!" Ichigo snapped making Sakura turn her attention to him; that wasn't what she expected.

"Sakura" Orihime gasped in relief

Sakura looked around and felt that there was a lot of spiritual pressure around the place. Ichigo informed her that there were a few other soul reaper captains as well as their lieutenants being here now; she couldn't believe she slept through all of that. She started to attempt to pull herself back up but Ichigo just grabbed her wrist and yanked her down gently

"Don't even think about it Sakura you've just recovered and I'm not gonna let you go and hurt yourself like that again for my sake" he said firmly; looking up into his eyes she could see he really wasn't joking around about this.

"I'm fine Ichigo; really I am" she promised looking at him; gently she reached out and touched his face "I promise"

His eyes seemed to soften at that as he leaned into her touch before grasping the hand on his face "Why did I drag you into this?" he whispered his voice full of regret

"None of this is your fault" she said

Before being able to continue with what she wanted to say to him she jumped when there was another large burst of spiritual energy and she saw Nnoitra being cut down in his release form by Kempachi; wow he was really strong; she could barely believe the strength of the captains of the thirteenth court guard squad. She watched as he fell dead.

"Wow" Sakura gasped; then she remembered Nel was missing; Sakura turned around and spotted her resting. Sakura stood up moving out of Ichigo's arms who seemed reluctant to let her go and started walking over to her; petting her head lightly looking at Nel who seemed to be in a bit of a daze.

"S-Sakura?" Nel called out unsurely

Sakura smiled and nodded "Yeah it's me; are you alright?"

"Nel's fine" she said in a timid voice

Sakura nodded "Good; that a girl"

Something inside of Sakura snapped and got her attention 'Orihime!'

She turned her head and saw someone appear before Orihime; it was another arancar she could tell by the mask and the white outfit.

"Orihime!" Sakura flash stepped over to her but was also grabbed by the arancar

He looked at her "Sorry; I really don't like these kinds of assignments but I have my orders"

Sakura gasped as his grip tightened; Ichigo and Kempachi started coming for him "Need to borrow them for a bit" with that he vanished before their swords could make any contact with him.

"Orihime; Sakura" Ichigo stared wide eyes; he clenched his fists in anger and frustration.

**Ok there you have it; I hope you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to the next one. **


	22. Chapter 22

**My wonderful readers I have returned with a new extra long chapter, I've decided in celebration of exams being over and holidays beginning I'd update a few stories. I hope you enjoy this chapter**

* * *

Sakura opened her eyes and found herself in a dark room but it was different than the last one; it looked more like a kind of lab. Sakura couldn't see the outside; there wasn't even a window.

"Welcome back; Sakura"

Sakura's eyes widened as she turned to see Aizen standing a little ways behind her; he still had that smile plastered on his face and Sakura wondered what it would take to wipe it off; he felt different this time though; like there was another soul with him but she couldn't see it; there was a faint call for her though coming from it.

"W-Why did you bring me here?" Sakura asked her eyes hardening and her fists clenched

Aizen's expression didn't change "You look so troubled Sakura aren't you happy to see me? I told you before that I would reveal your purpose all soon enough to you"

Sakura's eyes narrowed "Where's Orihime?"

"She's safe don't worry" he said calmly walking up to her "You seem like the kind who's more concerned about the safety of others than you are about yourself"

As Aizen raised his hand towards her face she had to force herself not to flinch at the contact "Well" Sakura started "Are you going to tell me my purpose?"

"Such a brave girl" Aizen said pulling back from her "You don't show an inch of fear when it comes to your own safety; you didn't hesitate to run towards Orihime when you felt danger; you didn't wonder about your life when you rushed to save Ichigo Kurosaki from certain death and didn't even stop to consider the depletion of your powers when you healed your comrades and enemy's"

Sakura swallowed; she didn't understand where he was going with this speech; it almost sounded like praise but that couldn't be it.

"You must truly have a strong spirit to be able to endure all of this; here you may lose your life and yet the only lives you're concerned about is your friends" he stated calmly

Looking up into his cold eyes with a calm face and powerful eyes she spoke "I don't know what you're getting at by explaining all of this to me. I asked what my purpose is to you"

Aizen didn't seem surprised by her reaction "To create the Oken; it's as plain and simple as that"

Narrowing her eyes slightly she started to reply "How would I be of any use to create it?" Orihime had told them about the Oken and that it was the real goal of Aizen for a reason they couldn't understand even though it was a possibility that he wanted to kill the soul king to go through all this trouble didn't seem to fit into place with her.

"That is for me to know" Aizen said before walking away

Sakura came after him "Hey wait"

There was still that strange feeling that was coming from Aizen and it was familiar to her for some reason she didn't know why and she wanted to find out.

There was suddenly a large blue light glowing around Aizen catching Sakura off guard "Rest a while longer until the time is right"

Sakura was about to protest but she felt her head become heavy and sleep trying to take over her form; she resisted but it didn't last for long until sleep over came her.

* * *

"Go back"

"Go back where?" Sakura asked looking around again; she was back to where she was before when she was unconscious

"Go back" the voice whispered through the mist; Sakura started walking towards the forest until the mist began to clear and the area came into vision it was exactly the same again for some reason this time she knew what the voice wanted.

"Alright then" Sakura said looking at the little girl on the bed "Take me back to the begging"

* * *

Meanwhile Orihime had been taken to the fifth tower and Aizen was heading to the world of the living trapping the four captains here in Hueco Mundo along with Ichigo and his friends. He explained his plans and left with his army of arancars to go and invade Karakura however the soul society had gotten ahead and the full on winter war was about to be unleashed while on the inside of Hueco Mundo the soul reapers were trying to tie things up since that was all they could do for now. Ichigo had begun his battle with Ulquiorra the moment after he found Orihime again; he had asked her where Sakura was but she said she didn't know and that Sakura was taken somewhere else so Ichigo was trying to beat the answers out of Ulquiorra who refused to tell him saying that she was an important asset for Lord Aizen.

Ichigo had gone into a rage and started attacking Ulquiorra but was having trouble because he also didn't want to hurt Orihime but that was a problem because Loly and Menoly had showed up again; revived and well but just as they were about to kill Orihime it seemed that Yami wanted in on the fun as well so after a few complications and Orihime saving Loly once again from death; Loly did something unexpected and protected her from Yami clutches but also died while doing so.

Afterwards Uryuu had shown up to help and assist Ichigo with the problems and said that he would protect Orihime and deal with Yami so now Ichigo was free to fight Ulquiorra and try and pry some answers out of him as well. He made up a deal of his own with Ulquiorra; if he won then Ulquiorra would tell Ichigo where he could find Sakura and if not there really wasn't much point in betting any further.

* * *

As rays of sunlight hit her eyes they opened into a deep shade of emerald green; yawning the young fifteen year old girl got out of bed and got ready for the day; having abandoned her silly red dress that she wore on missions; she instead now wore a bright red laced spaghetti strap top and a black shorts with knee long boots. Her long hair was in a side plate with her bangs being held back by two pins.

'I feel kinda different today' she thought to herself but then smiled and brushed the feeling off

Sakura looked at her reflection in the mirror and was satisfied before heading out for some training and then to run some errands for the Hokage if she needed them which knowing her teacher she probably would and then maybe she could get a mission with her team.

'Something feels different' Sakura thought as she walked through the streets of her village; she glanced at the ramen shop where her and her team liked to go after missions. Though there was always one who liked going there more than any of them.

Sakura sighed as she looked up at the villagers leaders office; she doubted she was going to get any missions right now and perhaps she would stop by later to say hello after all she was her apprentice.

'Ah this is wonderful' she thought looking up at the clear blue skies 'Another wonderful day in Konoha'

Sakura shuffled over to the flower shop; she knocked on the door and when she came in she saw a pretty girl with baby blue eyes and blonde hair working at the counter.

"Hello Ino" Sakura greeted waving to the girl

Ino heard her voice and waved at her "Hey Sakura" Sakura walked in "So what brings you over here?"

Sakura shrugged "Oh nothing really" she said

'So strange' Sakura thought 'I know I'm here but it feels different as if there's something missing'

Snapping out of her thoughts she started to look around "I think I'm going to buy some flowers for decoration at home"

"Oh okay what would you like?" Ino asked

Sakura looked around for a while and then spotted a couple of orange flowers in a bunch "I'll take these" she said placing them on the counter

"Um; ok" Ino said a little surprised her friend chose orange flowers; pink or something else might have suited her better. Ino noticed a sort of dull look in her friend's eyes today and wondered if maybe she was sick or something; it didn't seem like she was all there today.

"Hey Sakura you ok?"

Sakura smiled and nodded "Yeah; I'm fine Ino, well see you later thanks for the flowers"

She left the shop without saying another word 'Am I alright?' she wondered to herself

* * *

Ichigo and Ulquiorra have been fighting for a long while now; Ichigo had put on his hollow mask attempting to take Ulquiorra down before it was too late however Ulquiorra was stronger than any opponent Ichigo has ever faced before. He had brought Ichigo out of the canopy of Las Nochas saying that it was forbidden for espada of the rank of four and higher to go into their released state and now that they weren't in Las Nochas anymore Ulquiorra had done just that. He had become a bat like creature or more like Incubus creature with black wings and tail. The green streaks that were running down his eyes were now black and his mask was only formed on top of his head now; his hair had grown longer to.

Ichigo watched as he felt the immense power almost contain him

"Compose yourself" Ulquiorra said calmly bringing Ichigo back to reality; he got ready for the real fight to begin.

"You must hold your stance; extend your consciousness do not let your guard down" Ulquiorra warned the hollowfied Ichigo.

Ichigo watched and waited for his opponent's next move but it was too fast for him to see when Ulquiorra appeared in front of him with a green spear of light that created a huge explosion.

* * *

Sakura's eyes snapped open as she threw her kunai knife into the target again hitting it on the mark again; she had been out in the woods for a while trying to shake off this feeling she had been getting but it seemed to be growing inside of her. It's been like this now for two days and she's been brushing it off but there was this powerful wave of something that just suddenly washed over her and it frightened her slightly.

Sakura shook her head again trying to clear her mind; she was just a little jumpy today that was all. Even so though for the past two days Sakura has been going about her normal life as a ninja; things didn't feel right; it was a bit unusual for her now; like there was something missing.

"Sakura" a voice called behind her; she turned around and saw a fifteen year old boy with spikey blonde hair and blue eyes and another boy with pale skin and onyx coloured eyes and another boy beside him that looked a lot like the other one with spikey black hair and onyx coloured eyes.

"Naruto; Sai; Sasuke what's up?" she asked

The three boys glanced at each other for a moment before turning back to her "Lady Tsunade has a mission for us to go on tomorrow" Naruto explained "We wanted to know if you were up for it?"

Sakura smiled and nodded "Oh sure sounds great" she said picking up her weapons "Well I'm just about done here so I'll see you guys later"

"Are you sure?" Sai asked looking up from his book

Sakura nodded and started to leave; she waved off at them; Sakura cursed at herself she's been so out of it lately and she didn't know why; it was starting to get a grip on her.

When she was far enough from them Sakura looked up at the sky; it was getting dark again now and it looked like it was going to start raining very soon and yet she didn't want to take cover from it.

* * *

Ichigo came out of the rubble in the of the tower's building he was just knocked into; panting heavily. He just got hit with a cero and then flung into a tower; his clothes were torn in shreds and his body wasn't in good shape either while Ulquiorra was still unharmed.

"Do you understand it now?" Ulquiorra asked watching as Ichigo tried to pick himself up "I'm afraid no matter how much your former techniques resemble an arancars; the difference in our power will always be as great as that between heaven and earth" he started coming towards Ichigo a spear in his hand "Imitating hollows seems like a perfectly logical path for you to follow in order to gain more power; it's not surprising you would do that to become stronger but you will never be my equal"

As the espada appeared before Ichigo as he tried to stand up; his mask gone and his power depleting "Getsuga-

Something in Ulquiorra must have snapped and this was the first sign of anger he has ever shown

"I told you it's useless!" he said before swiping Ichigo back straight through the pillar before flying after him.

He started to attack Ichigo in the air knocking him against the rocks and sent him flying up one large pillar as he reached the top he grabbed Ichigo by his shoulder and had him dangling by his feet.

"Why won't you let go of your sword?" he asked Ichigo who right now was in so much pain it was hard for him to move "You've experienced the vast difference in our powers and yet you actually still think you can defeat me?" he asked Ichigo

"Difference in power that doesn't matter at all" Ichigo groaned; he looked at Ulquiorra "You think I'd give up just because you're more powerful than me? From our fist battle together I knew that you were stronger"

Ulquiorra's eyes widened slightly

"At this point no matter how many times I see how powerful you are it won't make a difference to me; I'm determined to see this through to the end; I refuse to give up" Ichigo gripped his sword harder and attempted to lift it up "You should've realised that by now…..I will find a way to beat you Ul-qui-orra!"

Ulquiorra threw Ichigo back making him land on the hard rocks and rubble as he coughed in pain "That's nonsense Ichigo Kurosaki; those are the words of someone who doesn't know the true despair of defeat"

Ichigo attempted to stand up again but as he did Ulquiorra began to change; there was a black and green light of energy and power surrounding him now and it was suffocating; it made the very ground beneath him shake and made him wonder if this pillar was going to hold.

"Since you don't understand; I will teach you" Ulquiorra started changing as his power spiked and his form transformed; his white clothes changed into black fur like covering; Ichigo stared in awe as he began to change and his power grew; when Ulquiorra was finished he felt more powerful than ever.

"Among the espada's I alone found a way to achieve this second stage release; I have not even shown this form to the great lord Aizen"

Ulquiorra's form was dark; his eyes were now yellow with green around them; the streaks on his face was black that actually looked like black ink streaks; the hole in his chest was bigger and there was a thick black line running down it; his wings were bigger as well and aside from his upper torso he was covered by a black fur.

Ichigo groaned and panted as he attempted to stand up again "So you have seen my imposing form and yet you still have the will to fight" he observed

'He's not so confused that he can't feel fear and yet he doesn't have the eyes of someone who has given up' Ulquiorra thought as he looked at Ichigo's trembling form; he was struggling just to stand and keep his stance.

'Does this mean he actually believes he can win?' he thought

Ulquiorra stepped forward "Very well I will make you realise the depth of my power even if I have to grind your body into dust' Ulquiorra placed a hand on the ground and got ready to launch forward he looked at Ichigo again "You will understand"

As he flew towards Ichigo he took his clawed hand and took Ichigo's head as he flew throwing him forward watching as he crashed into a tower and it crumbled.

* * *

Sakura gasped and shot up of bed panting heavily unknown to her that her eyes began to fade from violet back to emerald as she clutched the covers to her chest. Sakura whipped the sweat off her brow and got up; her legs felt like jelly; she looked at the time and saw that it was now six in the morning.

"Why do I feel so panicked?"

She started getting ready for her mission today; she took a shower washed got dressed then ate breakfast when she was finished she started tying up her hair. At her mirror desk in front of her she saw the orange bunch of flowers and smiled there was something about them that made her happy even with this twisting feeling inside of her and that strange dream she wondered what that was about; who those people where.

Suddenly the flowers started to whither instantly before Sakura's eyes as she reached out for them Sakura's eyes widened as the memories came flowing back to her; the moment she met Ichigo; he day he found out about her being a soul reaper; their battle with the arancars; her run in with Orihime when she was about to be taken; when they all rushed into Hueco Mundo; her fight with dark; watching the battle with Ichigo and Grimmjow.

She then felt Ichigo's spiritual pressure along with Ulquiorra's and it didn't feel good, she knew that there was something bad happening right now, she knew that they were fighting, even in her subconscious state she could feel their power

"Ichigo" Sakura murmured shaking slightly; then she remembered Aizen taking her from her friends and putting her to sleep.

"I'm asleep" she said to herself but this felt so real for her; another thought for her was how would she get out of this and could she really leave this place.

Sakura was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard knocking on her door "Hey Sakura; are you ready?"

"Hang on" Sakura shouted grabbing her back she opened the door and got ready to leave

'I have to figure out how to get back' Sakura told herself

* * *

"ICHIGO" Orihime shouted at the top of her voice as she watched in horror as Ulquiorra who had his tail wrapped around Ichigo's throat; she had Uryuu had just come to the top to feel all of this killer spiritual pressure.

Ulquiorra looked at her from above on the giant tower "You're just in time watch closely" he said raising his hand to Ichigo's chest" he started to form a black and green Cero "Here's the man that you in-trusted all of your hope bare witness as life comes to an end"

Orihime gasped and her mouth gaped in horror "NO!" she shouted then there was the explosion

* * *

The four of them started making their way out of the gates and were now leaping through the forest. Then she felt it. Something that struck her to her very core, the sudden fleeting of power and it wasn't hers, she knew that she was sleeping but even so she could still feel Ichigo's spiritual pressure.

Sakura gasped and stopped running; she crumbled to the ground holding her head in her hands "It can't be" she whispered 'He can't be dead no!' she started panting her friends came down to her

"Sakura are you alright?" Sasuke asked as they all came up to her

She didn't respond; there was a lump in her throat as felt Ichigo's spiritual pressure begin to fade into nothing. He was going to die!

She looked up at her friends

"Sorry guys" she started as she stood up still shaking a little "I'm can't go I have something important to do"

"Oh really what?" Naruto asked curiously

Sakura looked down; she knew that if she went back she wouldn't see them again but this wasn't right; this was a life she lived before; she knew that this was where she used to belong but now it wasn't real anymore because all of them; all of her friends were gone

"Sorry I have to go help a friend" she said turning her back "It was good to see you all again for the last time"

She started to flash stepping away before any of her friends could say anything and she knew that they wouldn't be able to keep up as Sakura headed back into the mist.

* * *

Sakura looked around the area she was back again in that strange forest; she started running with all her speed towards the bed but the girl wasn't there. She started looking around for her realising that this was her only way to get back. She started looking around in a panic she didn't have time for this she needed to go back to help Ichigo and the others before it was too late.

"Where are you?" Sakura asked turning her head from side to side "Where are you; come out I don't have time!"

"I have to go back" she said "I saw the beginning and I know now who I am but please I don't want to be here anymore this is a life that I lost a long time ago!"

Sakura watched as a large light started to engulf the entire place around her; she looked around her and there was nothing but the shifting colours around her.

"What is this?" Sakura asked herself. She looked up and saw the little girl now standing there

"Sakura" the girl said looking at her; with her eyes opened it was no longer dark swirls but now an amazing light violet and her black hair was changed into a pure silver

"Who are you?" Sakura asked starting to feel unusually calm

She smiled at Sakura "You know me Sakura; you made me"

Sakura looked at the girl again and her eyes widened as she came to realisation; this girl was no stranger to her; she lived in the very depth of Sakura's soul and this world was hers but not her zampakuto and hollows world. It was on the other side of her soul.

"Aura" Sakura whispered; the girl smiled and started to shine a bright light as she lowered her form down in front of Sakura

"But why are you here?" Sakura asked her; this girl she remembered her now

"To help you remember and to return" she said smiling slightly "I am the manifestation of the part of the soul you wanted to keep locked away until you needed me. I hold all the memories and all the answers you need about everything about your powers; your past life and I am-

Sakura gasped her eyes wide 'She's a...?'

Aura nodded "And when the time is right you will know what to do in order to stop the power of the Hougyoku because you Sakura Haruno have one inside your very soul"

'I have a Hougyoku inside of me?' Sakura thought with wide eyes "How is that possible?"

Aura started to come towards Sakura and merge with her; Sakura's eyes changed to silver as her soul became reunited.

'Now it's time to go back' she thought

* * *

Water; that was what Sakura saw as she opened her eyes; she was in some kind of tube filled with water yet she was able to breathe in it; she was back; back in Hueco Mundo and that was a relief to her. Just as she was about to break out the water began to drain and the tube opened. Sakura rubbed her eyes and wringed out her hair. She looked at the person who got her out.

"Grimmjow" she murmured in slight disbelief

"Hey" he replied calmly walking over to her; he threw Sakura her sheathed sword "Here"

"Thanks" Sakura said tying it around her waist; her eyes widened as the ground shook slightly; she could feel the power it was much more powerful physically being here. She felt it; this was Ichigo and Ulquiorra fighting again and Ichigo in his hollow form; it was complete and deadly he lost his sanity and would attack anyone that included Uryuu and Orihime who were there as well.

"Oh god" she whispered

"Yeah; they're on the canopy of Las Nochas" Grimmjow said looking up

Sakura looked up at Grimmjow "Why did you help me?" she asked

Grimmjow smirked "I owe you a debt" he said; he held out his hand "Come on; I'll take you to them"

Sakura reached out her hand for him; when he grabbed it and flung her over his back and wrapped his arms under her legs "Hold on tight"

Sakura yelped at the speed and wrapped her arms around his neck and held on as he started speeding on the outside it seemed there was a bit of distance; she felt it again.

Grimmjow stopped when they reached the outside and looking up there was a huge hole in the sky and she was told that that was where they were fighting. Sakura got off of Grimmjow's back and looked up.

"Aren't you coming?" she asked as he started to walk off

"Why? I already know that he defeated Ulquiorra" Grimmjow said; looked at Sakura and there was a flash of something in his eyes "You'd better hurry"

Sakura nodded and started to fly up to the top when she got there she saw the skies dark and the crescent moon shining as well as a lot of broke towers just like in her visions of Ichigo fighting.

"Ichigo" Sakura said looking around; she saw him in his hollow for now and Orihime and Ulquiorra and Uryuu who was stabbed by Ichigo.

"What" Sakura murmured and gasped in fright; she started running towards them with all her speed

He was about to unleash a cero on Uryuu; Sakura appeared there and heard Orihime shouting; begging for him to stop.

"Pleas listen to me Ichigo!" she cried

Sakura appeared before her but before she could stop him Ulquiorra came up from behind him suddenly and the cero was knocked off course. Then there was an explosion.

Sakura watched as his mask cracked and Ichigo began to fall "Ichigo" Sakura shouted in alarm as she caught him and lied his head down on her lap. Orihime ran up to her as well but didn't touch Ichigo.

"Ichigo" she cried

Sakura turned her attention to Ulquiorra and saw that his arms; legs and torso had regenerated or at least were. Sakura placed her hand over Ichigo's chest where the giant hole lied and a blue light started to form above it; she brought her hand down at the beams shot into Ichigo healing it as if the hole had never existed.

"Kage ga kisu" she murmured "Shadow kiss"

"Regeneration" Ulquiorra observed

"Ichigo" Orihime murmured "Are you?"

Ichigo shot up from Sakura's lap and looked in shock "I'm still alive?" he asked himself placing a hand on his chest "Wait a minute didn't I…."

"Have a giant hole in your chest?" Sakura asked making him look at her "Yes but you're healed"

"Sakura; you're here?" Ichigo asked in bewilderment

She nodded and Ichigo smiled a little but then his attention was turned to Uryuu who still had the sword in his stomach. Ichigo stood up

"I see you finally snapped out of it" Uryuu gasped

"Am I the one responsible for that wound?" he asked

"You're a hard guy to kill" Ulquiorra said making Ichigo snap his attention towards him

"Ulquiorra"

Ichigo watched as he flash stepped in front of Uryuu and took the sword out of his gut before throwing it at Ichigo.

"Pick it up; let's finish this now" he said

"The one who stabbed Uryuu was it me?" Ichigo asked

"What difference does it make?" Ulquiorra asked him as he began to form another light spear

"Am I also the one responsible for cutting off your left arm and leg?" Ichigo asked "If that's what happened then you should cut off my left arm and leg"

Sakura's eyes widened and Ulquiorra made his spear vanish; he was also shocked at what Ichigo said "What are you talking about?" Orihime asked

"The entity fighting you early was a hollowfied being with no consciousness" he said "It was not really me; if we're going to finish this fight I have to be in the same condition as you or we won't be evenly matched"

"Hold on Ichigo you can't be serious" Uryuu said his eyes wide "It's suicidal!"

Sakura didn't say anything; she could see that by the look in his eyes Ichigo was dead serious about this but she didn't say anything to stop him because there wouldn't be any point.

"I'm fine with it" Ulquiorra said "If that is what you want; that's what you will get"

But as Ulquiorra began to raise his one remaining wing it began to turn to ash; everyone stared in shock.

"So this is how it end" Ulquiorra said "Kill me Ichigo; you don't have much time I won't resist you I don't even have the strength to walk if you don't take this opportunity now our duel will remain unsettled forever"

Ichigo's jaw clenched "I can't do it"

"What are you saying?"

"I can't do it; not like this; it's wrong" he said and then shouted "This is not the way I want to defeat you!" he began panting

Ulquiorra's eyes started changing back and he turned to the side; his body was being turned into ash and getting blown away by the wind "To the very end you just won't do what I want"

Orihime stood up and Ulquiorra looked at her "And just when I was becoming a little bit intrigued with the way you people behave" he reached out for Orihime with his remaining arm "So let me ask you again girl are you afraid of me?"

"No I'm not afraid really" she said; Orihime had small tears in her eyes "Really I'm not"

Ulquiorra began to draw back his hand "I understand" and as Orihime tried to grab his hand he started to turn to ash until he was gone completely.

Sakura sighed that was over but the real fight now must still begin; she looked over at everyone and saw that they were in pretty bad shape.

"Sakura hey" Ichigo said walking up to her but he fell to his knees

"Ichigo" Sakura gasped in worry and ran over to him; she placed an arm over his shoulder to help support him

"I'm glad you're safe" Ichigo panted slightly

Sakura nodded and looked as Orihime rushed over to go and heal Uryuu "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better than I was before" Ichigo said; Sakura smiled and nodded

"That's good"

"By the way" Ichigo started "Where did they take you?"

Sakura shrugged "I don't know I was put to sleep for a while and then when I woke up Grimmjow took me here"

"What?" Ichigo said in shock

"Yeah; I don't know where he is now though" Sakura said

Ichigo calmed down and sighed; he was glad that everyone was safe again. Sakura placed a hand on Ichigo's chest where the hole had been struck. She winced slightly as she felt the pain it had caused him; using her Kage ga kisu or shadow kiss was different than her Taiyo no kisu or sun kiss; her sun kiss was a lot like Orihime's power it was able to erase any changes done to an object in her space while her shadow kiss allowed her to bend time and space itself and not just undo; but shift; change; warp or erase any events that happened to the object in that space and it was much more powerful and also took a greater toll on her sprit.

"Hey was it you that healed my wound?" Ichigo asked

Sakura nodded "I guess you could say that" she replied placing her head where her hand was "Ichigo" she felt a tear slip past her eye; Ichigo gently placed a hand on her shoulder

"Hey come on don't cry" he said blushing slightly

She smiled and gently rubbed her head against his chest; she was just so relieved that he was alright but it still looked like he had a lot of healing needed to be done.

"I'm just so glad" Sakura whispered "That you're safe"

Ichigo felt himself blush a little and his heart start pounding in his chest. Sakura got ready to heal him again but Ichigo grabbed a hold of her wrists.

"Hold on I don't want you to push yourself any further" he warned; there was something in the back of his head saying that letting Sakura use her powers so much was a bad idea.

"Don't worry about me" Sakura replied waving her free hand "I'm fine really" truth be told she was so not but she could still fight and heal because that's the kind of person she was; she wouldn't be able to sit back when her friends were in dangers unless she had a reason.

"Taiyo no Kisu" Sakura whispered holding up her free hand and watched as his wounds started to vanish and Ichigo's spirit energy began to be restored as his cloak started forming but then there was a sudden wave of spiritual pressure.

Sakura's eyes widened "What was that?" Ichigo whispered

Sakura gasped "Rukia…"

Ichigo stood up breaking the healing barrier; grabbing his sword he started to speed towards the hole in the building back into Hueco Mundo without giving Sakura a chance to heal him completely

"Ichigo wait!" she shouted but there was the sudden shock and she fell to her knees coughing up blood a little.

"Sakura" Orihime said in alarm as she held the shield holding Uryuu apparently Ichigo's hollow form did more damage than he thought than simply plunging it into his gut.

"No don't worry I'm fine" Sakura panted truth be told she had a bit more than she thought taken out of her when she used her shadow kissed she was practically restoring the dead with Ichigo; his soul chain and soul sleep as well was gone until she brought it back but she didn't bother saying anything about that because what would be the point.

To be honest right now she was more worried about Ichigo he didn't look like someone who's won a battle because he didn't and he didn't look like someone who was ready to fight again because he wasn't and she wasn't just talking about his physical state or only having half his spirit energy; no she was thinking more about his will. Something in him had snapped when he saw Ulquiorra reduced to ash and gone; he knew that it wasn't him who had defeated him and that it was just a hollowfied demon that took a hold of him but she didn't say anything she knew Orihime may be feeling enough unnecessary guilt as it is.

It was like his hollow had warned him now that if he had shown the slightest amount of weakness he would take it and Ichigo had nearly lost his life was a sign of that for his hollow to take a grip of him and this may affect his hollowfication more than he realises right now; as Ichigo was rushing down to fight this new opponent and help the others he just didn't have the will right now and it's a lot easier to do something right the first time if you have the will for it but if you fail and you don't have the will you'll just give up and die in battle.

'We have to go now' Sakura thought standing up

"Orihime" she turned to face her friend

"Yes; Sakura" Orihime replied

"You and Uryuu stay here; heal him and then rest a while please" she said before speeding down after Ichigo

"Please don't do anything stupid" she whispered

* * *

When Ichigo had gotten down he had found Rukia about to hit the ground hard but had managed to save her in time before attacking Yami who looked like a giant centipede now; he could only guess that it was his release for and it was freaken huge. For a while Ichigo had lead the newly formed Yami away from his friends who were lying on the ground after he had gotten Rukia to a safe place then he started to fight back but Yami was stronger than he anticipated and it was explained to him that Yami was actually able to change his ranking and that the espada were actually ranked from zero to nine and he was zero when he went into his released state which was what Ichigo was fighting right now; he explained how he was stronger than Grimmjow; Ulquiorra and Nnoitra combined.

Ichigo didn't have to waver though because he needed to get back to Karakura and end this war but of course it wasn't going to be that simple. When he used his Getsuga Tensho in his hollowfied form it just nicked Yami by his neck and did nothing else to him other than irritate him.

* * *

When Sakura arrived it was just on time to see Ichigo's mask but it seemed different; she saw his mask before but this one was different it's markings weren't the same and it even felt different to her.

Sakura looked around and saw that Rukia; Chad and Renji were safe and alive just not in the best of health at this point but she couldn't worry about healing them now because if she did she would be able to help Ichigo. Noting that things were going to get dangerous Sakura used her speed and strength to gather up Renji and Chad before placing them on the building with Rukia who was rather relieved to see her friend.

"Sakura" Rukia greeted in relief

Smiling as she gently placed down her comrades and friends; she turned her back to Rukia.

"I'm glad you're safe" Sakura said

"I was so worried; no one heard anything from you and your spiritual pressure had vanished" Rukia said with a look of relief on her face

"Sorry about that" she said turning her back "I'm going to go help Ichigo; you look after them please"

"Right" Rukia replied

Sakura watched as Yami started to fire Bala at Ichigo over and over again and he didn't avoid them but tried to block them with his hands. Sakura watched as Ichigo attempted to use his mask again but it didn't work and vanished. In all of the confusion and shock Ichigo was grabbed by Yami.

"I'm not sure what just happened but it looks like you can't use that irritating mask of yours anymore" Yami said as he held Ichigo in his fist

'Dammit what happened to my mask?' Ichigo thought

"Ichigo!" Sakura shouted in worry; she ran her hand over her face and put on her mask before directing a cero at Yami creating an explosion in his face. It looked like that just nicked him as well. He turned his attention towards her as she withdrew her mask from her face.

"Oh it's you well this is just wonderful now I have the pleasure of killing both of you" Yami said; Sakura noticed he didn't let go of Ichigo.

"Sakura what are you doing get away from here!" Ichigo shouted and gasped in pain when Yami squeezed him tight; he felt like his bones were about to break. Ichigo started to scream as he was be crushed.

"Bankai" Sakura stated as her spiritual energy began to grow and her bankai form appeared; her gun scythe in hand and her hollow mask on her face "Akuma Kuresento Kage Rozu"

Sakura started to pour her spirit energy and her scythe's blade grew as red rose petals scattered around her

"Akuma Shin hanta!" she made her scythe as large as she could and then brought it down on Yami taking his entire arm clean off including the hand that held Ichigo hostage. Sakura used her telekinesis to stop Ichigo from dropping at the intense speed when he landed safely she drew her attention back to Yami. Who was about to fire a bala at her but she dodged it in time. She started to get ready to use another attack.

"Why you little" Yami shouted as Sakura felt that this was going to get worse she threw a barrier over Ichigo instantly stopping him from getting out and stopping anyone or anything from getting in and harming him and he wasn't too happy about that.

Sakura drew her mask; Sakura noted something about her mask now as well; when she put it on; it felt different. She was recalling the way she attacked that espada Tesra when he was about to crush Ichigo and wondered if it was something similar but that would have to wait for now she had other matters to deal with.

"Sakura let me out of here!" Ichigo shouted

"You're going to pay for that you; insect" Yami shouted

Sakura watched as Yami started to for another bala in his fist and aimed it at her; she was quick to avoid it though and was sure the blast wouldn't harm Ichigo.

"That won't work" she stated as she saw his tail coming for her as well she came towards it and cut it off making Yami scream in pain.

"I'm gonna kill you for that you bitch!" he shouted getting really angry at her

Sakura breathed in deeply; she could handle this; she just had to make sure she didn't get hit with one of those Bala or cero attacks or she was done for. Sakura leapt back a little and got ready to fire again; she wondered if she could use a bala; might as well try it but her masks powers seemed weaker for some reason.

Raising her fists she started to try and form a bala and it began to form with all her might she pumped her fist in the air and hit Yami right in the jaw cracking the bottom of his mask a little and making him bleed but he didn't go down like she was hoping he would though she seemed to be doing more damage than the others.

'Ok this time I have to use a attack to finish him off' she thought to herself Sakura raised her scythe getting ready to use her demon god hunter again but Yami swung his fist in the air at her making her avoid him. He went at her again making her flash step away and over and over like he was trying to get a fly.

"Dammit hold still you pest!" he shouted as Sakura avoided him again but this was getting old for both of them; Sakura swung her scythe at Yami again but something in her froze her entire body for a moment and taking the chance Yami fired a cero directly at her which of course made contact.

Sakura started falling but Yami caught her now in his grip and he looked menacingly happy about it.

"Well would you look at this; looks like I caught a butterfly; I wonder if she breaks as quickly as one" he said and started to squeeze her in his grip.

'Dammit what happened to me?' Sakura thought as she felt the grip increase finally she started to scream in pain as her bankai vanished and her scythe came back to normal; the wounds on her began to burn slightly as well. Even as she screamed Sakura felt glad that it was her instead of Ichigo to think he just endured this kind of pain.

"Sakura!" she heard him shout her name but she kept her eyes shut as the life was getting crushed out of her suddenly there was a blast that Sakura felt coming her way and then she felt herself falling.

"What the hell!" Yami shouted as his arm was shot at and his one of his many feet were cut off

Sakura felt someone catch her and looked up to see dark hair and grey eyes and recognised him as Rukia's big brother Byakuya Kuchiki and there was also Kempachi Zaraki standing beside him.

"Why did you attack before me?" Kempachi asked Byakuya "Stay out of this"

"Why should I? I came here before you did you really need to learn your place" Byakuya said; Sakura's sweat dropped for captains they were acting a little like children even though their exteriors hid that fact.

Sakura released Ichigo from the barrier and he started rushing towards them "Byakuya; Kempachi" Sakura was about to say something when she saw Yami starting to stand up again

"He's already getting up" she stared wide eyes

"Stand aside Ichigo Kurosaki; Sakura Haruno" Byakuya said

"This is pathetic" Zaraki said to Ichigo "You always end up needing help from this girl now get out of the way" he raised his sword and Sakura and Ichigo's sweat dropped in worry as he lowered his sword down to Ichigo making him back up fast.

"What was that Kempachi?" Ichigo yelled

Sakura gasped "Hey don't do that are you trying to kill him?" she hissed at Kepachi's back but he didn't respond to her as he started coming towards Ichigo who was saying that now wasn't the time for this but then suddenly Yami's one hand came down on him and knocked him back. Sakura gasped in shock and watched as he hit one of the buildings in the desert.

"You sneaky peace of crap that hurt" Yami said angrily

"Captain Kuchiki" Sakura started not looking at his serious face "Can you set me down now?"  
"Can you stand?" Byakuya asked her

Sakura nodded but then there was another burst of power from Yami before Byakuya could respond to her request "How dare you interfere and cut my leg off I'm gonna kill you; you damn insect"

There was a huge piece of rock suddenly coming at Yami and he knocked it into rubble "Oh good so you can punch" Kempachi said appearing out of the smoke "The first one was bad felt like a fly buzzing around me but if you're gonna hit me why don't you do it with all your strength maggot"

"You're the pest here and it's time to smite you!" Yami said lowering his fist to Kempachi

He started to punch into the sand over and over again

"Kempachi" Ichigo shouted about to go and help when Byakuya appeared in front of him

"I told you to step aside Ichigo Kurosaki" he said

"But I-

"There's nothing more for the two of you to do here get going and return to the world of the living" Byakuya said calmly and even though he was calm something about Byakuya told Sakura that he wasn't actually as calm as he appeared.

"I will I promise but I've gotta defeat this guy first" Ichigo said "Besides it's not like it's that easy for me to get out of here; Kisuke has to open things on the other side for me to go"

Sakura narrowed her eyes as she realised that they all in actual fact had no way of knowing how to return back to the world of the living then again it was a last minute trip.

"Really" A new voice commented; turning her head Sakura saw a very strange looking soul reaper wearing a captain's coat that she noted Kempachi and Byakuya were wearing when she first met them as well as Toshiro. He was coming towards them and there was a huge wagon as well being pushed by a petite looking woman with long purple hair in a plat and she guessed that this was the lieutenant she heard every captain had.

Ichigo turned around and gasped "Maiyuri Kurotsuchi"

"How dare you; addressing me in that manner well it seems a substitute soul reaper like yourself doesn't give respect to any authority figure"

"You seem relaxed" Byakuya said "Is it because of that wagon?"

"Very perceptive I have obtained some rare treasures so I'm actually in a very good mood" he said something about him gave Sakura the creeps and it wasn't just the look on his face.

"Furthermore while I was obtaining these unique treasures I also had the chance to analyse the structure of the Garganta" he said

"You analysed the Garganta?" Sakura asked in shock at how someone could do that so fast this guy must be a real crazy genius hence the crazy part.

"That's right and I have determined the fact that it has no flaws and can last nearly indefinitely" he said smiling like a mad man "Just imagine Kisuke's frustration; this has me so please it's easy to overlook the chattering of a rude monkey like that substitute soul reaper" he said

"Prepare Nemu; we're sending these half soul reapers back to the world of the living" he said to the girl

"Yes sir" she replied

Sakura was more than ready to go back but Ichigo didn't look to sure about it

"Wait I still have stuff to do here" Ichigo said

"Oh shut up; test subjects like yourself are supposed to be silent this is an experiment so you have no right to decide anything at all" ok that ruined the kick Sakura had in her to go back now she wasn't so sure herself about this guy's intentions; he then pointed at Sakura and Ichigo "Listen closely you will both be known as test subjects number one"

"What?" Ichigo asked in disbelief

"There's no need to worry; I'll make the trip along with you" a feminine voice said; and looking up there was a women in a captains coat with long hair plated in the front of her around her neck. She landed on the ground by them

"Miss Unohana" Ichigo said

"I never thought expected a volunteer; have you perhaps lost your mind squad four captain?" Kurotsuchi asked

She smiled and for some reason Sakura felt herself become more at ease about doing this "Why no I have great trust in your scientific abilities captain Kurotsuchi" she said "I know you; I'm sure you're experiment will be successful you came all this way to Hueco Mundo saying you analysed a Garganta if you're experiment fails Kisuke Urahara will laugh at you and I don't think you'd allow that to happen"

Sakura tensed 'Did she have to say something like that?'

"You should think before saying so much since I have thoroughly analysed the Garganta I do have the ability to close it while you're passing through it"

Sakura winced slightly oh god if that happened she would be trapped in their forever "That's quite impressive" the squad for captain smiled still not even filching she turned to another women who had light purple hair and was rather tall she guessed this was another lieutenant "Isane you will stay here and assist captain Kuchiki with whatever he needs"

"Yes I understand" she replied

She turned to Ichigo and Sakura "Now shall we be on our way?"

Sakura nodded and Byakuya set her down gently; she bowed in respect before going over to Unohana

"But I have things to do here" Ichigo protested "Listen that Yami guy is really powerful I should stay so that all three of us can fight him together"

Sakura felt a pang of pain in her heart as Ichigo said that; by three he meant himself; Byakuya and Kempachi but didn't include her; she wondered if he thought she wasn't a good enough fighter because she got captured so easily.

"Ichigo don't overestimate yourself a captain from the thirteen court guard squad doesn't need help from the likes of you" Byakuya stated "What is your duty?" he asked Ichigo "You know the answer your duty is to protect Karakura town go on your are the substitute soul reaper"

"Yeah you're right" Ichigo said finally

When the two pillars were in place the Garganta was getting ready to be opened; Sakura turned to Ichigo and he glanced at her; she saw it in his eyes; he was ready to fight again.

"I won't described what's inside the Garganta to find the world of the living got the opposite way; just make sure you're aware of each step you're taking one misstep inside and you wind up in an unknown space between the world of the living and Hueco Mundo and there will be no way to get back but that might be entertaining for me to watch"

Ichigo stared at Myuri strangely and he noticed "What is it?"

"Well it's just that" Ichigo started "I remember Kisuke talking down to us like that when he opened the Garganta for us."

"So" he narrowed his eyes at Ichigo and Sakura was worried about what was going to come out of her oblivious friend's mouth next he certainly had an unknowingly cheeky smile on his face.

"Since you're the second person to become chief of research and development; you must've been his apprentice or something the two of you are very similar"

Sakura faced palmed herself

"How dare you-

"Bye now" Ichigo said quickly running to the opening

As the Garganta opened the three soul reapers began to make their way in leaving behind Hueco Mundo and their friends who would hopefully return soon after this war.

**There you have it everyone, another chapter. I decided to make it long to move this story along since I have big plans for the future. Now if you were confused a little bit about what happened to Sakura when she was knocked out I'll summarize this chapter a little. **

**Sakura and Orihime got taken again **

**Sakura was back in a tower where she noticed something different about Aizen, she finds out a little bit more about his plans and then he puts her to sleep. **

**Sakura wakes up and she says she wants to go back to the beginning as in back to her past which she does. **

**She then meets all of her old friends but later on feels Ichigo's spiritual pressure and realises that this is all just a dream she is having of her past life. Also yes sakura also has a hougyoku inside of her and you wiol find out how soon**

**When she wakes up takes her to where Ichigo and Ulquiorra where fighting, I really wanted to just move this story along so I didn't give it too much detail. **

**Anyway after that Sakura and Ichigo end up battling against Yami who is in a new hollow form and very powerful. Then Byakuya and Kempachi step in and save them **

**From there you know they are now in the Garganta and returning back to Karakura where the war has already begun without them. **

**That's all for now don't forget to review **


	23. Chapter 23

**Greetings to all, say hello to the next chapter of What hurts the most, I understand some people have been worried I discontinued but I promise as long as the stories in my file it will not be discontinued. READ AND ENJOY OR ELSE. **

* * *

"Great Ichigo did you have to piss him off like that you know he could close this thing in on us" Sakura commented as she ran side by side with Unohana

"Ah; he won't do that" Ichigo waved

Sakura rolled her eyes and smiled a little it looked like the old Ichigo really was back; seeing the path Ichigo was making now though had her a little worried his spiritual pressure still wasn't fully restored only by half and that wouldn't be enough to defeat Aizen and now that Sakura knew she had the power of a Hougyoku inside of her she knew she would be able to help Ichigo even though he made it clear he didn't want her fighting.

'Why though?' she wondered to herself

She needed answers from him why he had done that but she wasn't going to question him just yet especially not in front of this captain.

The three have been running for a while now and they were almost to the world of the living so far no one has said anything. All the two half soul reapers were thinking about was their friends and saving them as well as ending this war.

"Ichigo" Captain Unohana called him; he glanced back at her "I've been meaning to as you something; I heard that you once encountered Sosuke Aizen once before at Sokyoku hill is that correct?"

Ichigo looked back to the captain "You heard right what about it?"

"What did you think?"

"There was one thing to think the guy had monstrous strength" he replied "I was completely helpless he didn't even use his Shikai it was a one sided encounter"

"Wait a minute are you absolutely sure he didn't use his Shikai?" she asked again

"Yeah" he replied  
She then turned to Sakura "And what about you Sakura Haruno did you see Sosuke Aizen's shikai?"

Sakura shook her head "I only had two encounters with him and all that time I didn't even see him with his zampakuto"

"I see that is good"

Sakura and Ichigo gave her confused expressions "The fact that you seemed so weak that he didn't need to use his Shikai Ichigo is now both of your biggest advantages" she stated "There are some things I need to fill the two of you in on; at the moment you both are probably the only ones in the world of the living the soul society and Hueco Mundo who can fight Sosuke Aizen and actually defeat him"

"What do you mean?" the two asked together

"I'm going to tell you about the power of his zampakuto which is called Kyoka Suigetsu and the requirements to activate it" the two of them listened

Unohana told them that his shikai was complete hypnosis able to control all five of the sense and is able to cause every dimension of the target including its form; shape; mass; field and smell. She explained to them that Sosuke had told them this and proved it himself when he faked his death at the time that Ichigo and his friends were labelled Ryoka and invaded the soul society. Anyone who has laid their eyes even once will always be under his hypnotic spell every time he releases his zampakuto.

"Anyone who sees it just once?" Sakura asked

"That's right all of us who make up the thirteen court guard squads; Kisuke Urahara's people with whom you are acquainted with in the world of the living and even Sosuke Aizen's subordinates the arancars and espada's everyone who is even remotely involved in the battle in the world of the living has seen Aizen's Shikai all except for you two; Sakura and Ichigo" she told them

"You both possess spiritual pressure equal to that of a captain and you have not seen Kyoka Suigetsu Shikai"

"So as long as we don't see his shikai we won't fall under his perfect hypnosis?" Sakura asked

"That's right"

"Keep in mind your advantages are very important in this battle" she warned them "But you have to maintain that advantage if you do anything to lose it you will become vulnerable and the battle cannot be won; listen to me no matter what happens in this confrontation from here on out you must not look at Aizen's Shikai do you understand"

Sakura nodded "Got it"

"Thank you captain Unohana I'm glad you explained that to me before I have to meet up with him again if I'm the only one who can do this my path is clear" Sakura didn't say anything as he spoke "This time I'll defeat Aizen!"

* * *

While they were running through the Garganta; Kempachi and Kuchiki were still dealing with an oversized Yami while Captain Kurotsuchi watched from the Garganta poles; while Kempachi took the front line to fight it was rather barbaric while Kurotsuchi and Byakuya watched. Kurotsuchi was getting impatient and waiting for the battle to be over so that he could dissect something be it the arancar or the squad eleven captain he really didn't mind either way it would be less to cut up. Meanwhile Isane was healing Renji and Chad while Rukia remained with her in the protective shield.

Sakura didn't say anything about Ichigo's declaration to defeat Aizen on his own because she knew there wouldn't be a point how was he going to stop her once they returned to the world of the living. She wondered how the war was going on there and hoped that their comrades were alright. She knew that there had to be a way for her to use her Hougyoku against Aizen but until she figured out how to do that and what it was exactly she would have to wait a while longer; she just hoped that aura would somehow give her the answers when she needed them and hoped that Kyora was going to respond to her soon; she didn't tell Ichigo any of this because it would give him more of a reason to point out that she shouldn't do battle.

As the two women ran behind Ichigo they noted a gap in his reishi path and Sakura was starting to worry about letting him continue like this.

"Ichigo" Unohana called "Let me run in front of you for a while"

He continued to run and turned around to face them "Uh no; I'm alright if you're worried about me using up my spirit energy don't be I'm doing just fine…." He trailed off when the captain gave him one of those smiles that was sweet but scary even Sakura felt a chill run up her spine.

"Ichigo I think it would be a good idea if you let me run in front of you now" she repeated

"Sure if you insist" Ichigo said backing up and letting Unohana now take the lead

Sakura and Ichigo were now running side by side behind the captain; Sakura noted that the path was a lot more stable and smooth and not breaking apart well Ichigo did say he was terrible at this sort of thing. Sakura didn't turn her head to look at Ichigo or even acknowledge him as they continued running; she could feel that they were getting closer now and it seemed that Ichigo was noting the captain's smooth reishi road.

"Wow the path looks so nice when it's laid out by a captain's spirit energy" Ichigo observed "Mine would be nice to if I were in good condition" he said and Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him.

"What are you talking about; don't you know that you and I have similar spirit energy?" Unohana asked "From what I can see your wounds are already healed up but you'd be making a mess even in your best condition your sloppy spirit energy not suited to this sort of task"

"That's not true" Ichigo said "I'm just not recovered yet that's the problem I know I could do better if I were"

"You must be day dreaming although you look to be wide awake" Unohana smiled

"Hold on don't you think you're being too hard on me" Ichigo asked and pointed to his sleeve "Let me point out to you I only have one sleeve; when I release my bankai my robe transforms; it seems this different robe is part of my bankai however when Sakura healed my wounds only part of my robe got fixed because I was in a big hurry; Rukia and the others were in danger so-

"He just went charging out before I was even able to finish" Sakura said cutting him off she looked at Ichigo for a moment before turning her face back into the direction of the captain "So that's all the spirit energy he has right now; it's the same for me to; when I use my bankai a red cape forms and is constantly spreading red rose petals those petals represent my spirit energy but it takes me a while before it vanishes" Sakura looked at her robe "Right now though it's not falling because I'm not using any of my spirit energy and I still have nearly half of it but considering the attacks I used on Yami I'm surprised that this is all I used up; I thought all of it would be gone "

"Seriously; you lost half?" Ichigo asked

Sakura nodded "Yeah; see I lost a lot of spirit energy when I used my Kage ga kisu on you and then to top it off I used my Taiyo no Kisu and went straight into my bankai form after that; it takes a lot out of me and I can last a couple of hours when I'm only using one but to do both of them like that is dangerous"

Ichigo frowned a little "So all this time you've been fighting-

Sakura nodded "Yup; I fought without getting healed all that much I can't use my own technique on myself it would be impossible and Orihime can restore my spirit energy but it takes her a little time; when I arrived at the tower I wasn't at my full strength"

Unohana looked rather shocked; that wasn't what she wanted to hear and needed them both in top condition. She stopped running and the two looked at her.

"Ichigo; Sakura I think the both of you should run in front of me now" she said

Sakura and Ichigo came to the front and when they did their spiritual paths looked different on the side of Ichigo's was sloppy and breaking apart and Sakura's was straight.

"Wait why are we doing this?" Sakura asked

"I'm going to try and restore your spirit energy best I can while we're moving along for both of you of course" she said

"While we're in motion can you do that?" Ichigo asked

"Yes I can; when healing with kido we start by restoring one's inner spirit energy then the restored internal energy is combined with the healers external spirit energy which courses the whole body to be repaired as it turns out restoring missing spirit energy in a body that is already healed is very easy I've done it many times now both of you hold onto each other's hands"

Sakura and Ichigo blushed a little

"WH-Why?" Ichigo asked

"Do it" she said

Ichigo took Sakura's hand in his and their paths that were different began to change a little the path was straight now but not as thick though still solid.

"This way it will be like restoring spirit energy to one entity instead of two" she explained

"Oh" Sakura nodded in understanding

"Let's go" Ichigo said

Sakura nodded and the two started running together as the captain began to heal them.

* * *

In Hueco Mundo things weren't looking very good Kempachi still hadn't defeated the arancar and when he thought he had he offered Byakuya to take the final blow to kill Yami however he refused to do it saying that it was more for a barbarians job and that he wasn't going to clean up someone else mess in the moment of their bickering of course Yami had blasted a cero at them and they avoided it but then the two captains got into another petty argument and ended up trying to fight each other in this but then Yami had appeared and had taken on another released form and that was actually starting to annoy Kurotsuchi because if the arancar got any larger he was going to be hard to dissect.

* * *

In the world of the living the captains of the thirteen court guard squad and the visored's had joined forced to fight against Aizen and were taking on his arancars together and they were winning although taking Aizen down was a different matter for them because when Hiyori had attacked him she had gotten stabbed by Ginns zampakuto before she could reach him and Shinji had been cut down as well even after releasing his sword.

* * *

Sakura and Ichigo were almost to the world of the living now; it was in clear view and Ichigo was rushing but didn't let go of Sakura's hand. The two of them were able to feel their powers being returned; they continued to make their way there was the clearing and the sky was visible now.

"Sakura" Ichigo called squeezing her hand a little "When we get out; I want you to stay back away from Aizen"

"Ichigo"

"I don't want you to get involved with fighting Aizen in fact I don't want you to get involved with fighting anyone in this war" he said

Sakura suddenly stopped making him and Unohana do the same "Ichigo" she called and when he faced her she smacked him right across his face shocking him. She glared up at Ichigo.

"Stop treating me like I'm some kind of fragile doll! I'm a soul reaper to and a powerful one at that! So stop acting like I wouldn't be any good on the battle field" she said

"I didn't say that-

"No that's just it you didn't say anything!" she said narrowing her eyes "All you did was try and get me to stay out of the battle grounds well listen up when we go through there it's going to be a war and none of us will be able to avoid a battle and whether you like it or not I'm going to fight"

Ichigo was silent

"You shouldn't underestimate her powers" Unohana said "She may prove more useful than you think"

Sakura nodded firmly "I want to fight as well and there's nothing you can do to stop me got it?"

Ichigo looked down at her "Sakura; I'm sorry but we don't have time to argue about this"

Sakura nodded "Me too" she gripped his hand "Let's go"

* * *

The two soul reapers broke through the Garganta together and Ichigo released Sakura's hand before coming at Aizen from behind and then swung his sword using his Getsuga Tenshou. However looking at it there was something wrong and it deflected back and once it cleared there Aizen stood with some kind of shield at the back of him.

"It's been a while hasn't it Ryoka boy?" Aizen asked "You're attack was good but you're aim was predictable; the back of the neck is every creatures worse blind spot" they saw the shield shrink and flicker behind Aizen's neck. Did you think I would come into this battle without protecting my greatest point of vulnerability?"

Ichigo stared at him in shock "Let me guess what you are thinking at this moment; you think you made an error of judgment just now; that you should've hollowfied before attacking you think if you had done that this would all be over am I wrong?"

Sakura had back up further away from Ichigo and Aizen and was standing in mid-air a bit further away from them she looked at Ichigo's face and could see that he was not wrong about it; Ichigo had the thought of using his hollowfication but there was something that said he was clearly worried about using his mask.

"Attack me" Aizen said "Take your best shot it will only prove how arrogant you have become"

"No Ichigo" Sakura said but he didn't listen and instead put on his mask that had different markings now

"That's right come on" Aizen dared him

Ichigo pulled back his sword and drew out his Getsuga Tenshou and when he fired it at Aizen in his hollow form Aizen avoided it with ease and ended up behind the soul reaper.

Sakura didn't attack yet she was waiting to find the right time and didn't want to rush into this or else they would just draw out their powers till it was drained without doing anything at all; that's what she believed would happen and for some reason she stuck to it; the only thought was to defend when needed to and then strike at the moment when she knew it would be right; there was something telling her that only she could do just that and if she had to; she needed to do whatever it took to keep Ichigo alive. Aizen had the Hougyoku inside of him and Sakura still wasn't aware of its power and she didn't know the power of the Hougyoku inside of her so she would wait.

"What's wrong it didn't reach me" Aizen stated as he appeared behind them the two soul reapers back up away from him "Is that all you've got you're wasting your time Ryoka boy; you can attack me all you want but your efforts will be meaningless"

"You seem very confident so my hollowfication doesn't scare you" Ichigo said still wearing his mask "Is that it?"

"That's not what I'm talking about" Aizen stated calmly

"Then what is it?" Ichigo asked getting frustrated "Are you saying that my zampakuto isn't capable of killing you?"

"Apparently you don't understand" Aizen said "I'm telling you that no matter what you do your blade cannot touch me"

"Care to put it to the test?" Ichigo snapped back

"It's not a test if I know the outcome but you won't believe it unless you see it for yourself" Aizen stated

"You're right I don't believe it so let's see it!" Ichigo raised his sword into the air again and called out his Getsuga Tenshou but Aizen vanished and then appeared right behind him

"What's wrong you seemed to have missed me?" Aizen said as Ichigo leapt away from him

Sakura watched this; it wasn't something she could call a fight when only one person was attacking. Aizen was acting calm unusually clam for someone in battle; she noted all of the injured around here and that there was no sight of any arancars. So her only guess would be that they were all defeated and yet something about this told her that it was how Aizen wanted this battle to go. He hadn't flinched in the slightest when Ichigo came at him with his powerful attack and he didn't draw his sword either. This calming sensation around Aizen was actually scary; it was as if he was saying he wouldn't lose no matter what; Ichigo called it confidence but if that were the case then all of that confidence had to come from somewhere.

'Could it be the Hougyoku?' Sakura wondered as she watched Aizen and Ichigo; Ichigo now no longer had on his mask. He was getting scared of Ichigo because he was afraid of being vulnerable.

There was a way to defeat him; Sakura knew that; she just had to find a way to get to the answer. The answer was always there inside of you; you just have to know how to bring it up.

It looked like Aizen was just talking away calming and it seemed to be taking effect on Ichigo; Aizen started to tell him how he wasn't motivated by hate to fight him and it felt like Ichigo was starting to believe that. This was ridiculous. Sakura didn't want to say a thing about the Hougyoku inside of Aizen until she knew the reason for it. She wanted to know what this thing actually was; she remembered Kisuke had said it was something to break the barrier between soul reapers and hollows but if that was the case why bring it into battle? No there had to be more to it than this.

Sakura looked as suddenly all of the remaining captains and visored's gathered around Ichigo; Sakura didn't move an inch yet. She listened as they said they were going to make sure Ichigo and Sakura didn't get a look at Aizen's shikai but that for some reason was the least of Sakura's worries. The captains began to attack Aizen together trying to get past his defences.

"Ichigo" Sakura flash stepped beside him

"Sakura" Ichigo looked at her in surprise at her sudden appearance

"You need to watch" Sakura said "I don't know why but I'm worried about this strategy"

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked her

Sakura placed a finger on her chin and thought "I'm not too sure but it's something that's right in front of me yet I can't seem to get to it; anyway listen you need to just do what they say for now"

Ichigo nodded and continued to look at the fight

'No matter how much this bothers me' Sakura told herself; she wasn't feeling like her usual self in this battle

Everyone had begun to raise their power to the limit of themselves but even so there was a doubt for Sakura that it would be as simple as that.

Aizen was smart; he was able to play mind tricks on everyone. Gin was just standing somewhere watching the battle. The visored's and captains were begging to battle together they using all of the fighting strategies; distractions; decoys; a group offensive; sneak attacks these were all the kinds they were using. Although by the way he was fighting now; Sakura and Ichigo could see he had his sword out now.

"Wow look at them go; he can't get away" Ichigo stared

Sakura bit her bottom lip this was actually looking like more of a problem for her than something good. But she couldn't place her finger on why. Aizen wasn't even fazed and didn't get a single scratch on his form. Even though he was out numbered; a captain came at him with his bankai and Aizen cut him down then Rojuro began to attack him again but he took them down. Sakura could see that Aizen definitely wasn't a normal soul reaper. He was bringing all of them down; even though the captains were also going for him now and actually seemed to be winning.

"It can't be" Ichigo stared wide eyes as he cut them all down

Sakura narrowed her eyes as she observed the battle; suddenly Toshiro began to charge at Aizen from behind but something about this wasn't right; Shinji was using his zampakuto to manipulate things but even so; Sakura could see everything clearly aside from…

All of them watched as Toshiro ran his sword through Aizen stopping him; it looked like things were over and everyone was getting ready to celebrate but Ichigo and Sakura weren't.

"Hey guys hold on" Ichigo gasped

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Sakura suddenly shouted at them

The soul reapers stared in shock as they realised what had just happened; it wasn't Aizen they had run through it was a girl with purple hair tied in a brown eyes also the lieutenant of squad five Momo. Everyone was in shock when they realised what just happened.

'If that's her then where's" she looked down at her eyes widened "GET AWAY FROM THERE!" Sakura watched as two lieutenants were cut down and Aizen right there.

Sakura watched as Toshiro flew at Aizen in a rage "No stop!" she shouted in alarm; she watched as Aizen took down Toshiro cutting his arm and leg off and then came Soifon who was the next to go down and everyone followed after. They couldn't see it like she could. Sakura clenched her jaw; if it was released all this time. She looked at Ichigo and saw his starring in horror.

Ichigo didn't look like he could wait anymore and went for Aizen before she was able to stop him but then there were this huge flamed wall that stopped him and Sakura saw the head captain appear.

"About time the head showed up" Aizen said calmly "But you're too late Yamamotoe; you're the only captain left; the only one who can still oppose me. You're desperation is evident your death will mean the end of the thirteen court guard squads"

Yamamoto stood in the flames "Don't get cocky boy; believe me you would not be the first fool who thought he was strong enough to take me down"

"I'm not worried about whether I can or not because I already have" Aizen said

"Enough talk" as the captain swung his sword Aizen stabbed him but his arm was grabbed by the old man "You can't slip away now"

"How very interesting are you sure you've caught me?" he asked "Think about it carefully old man is the limb you're holding really my own; you know how powerful my Kyoka Suigetsu is"

"Are you saying this is part of your spell that may be true however there is no mistake that the zampakuto running through my stomach and its spiritual pressure isn't yours?"

Sakura and Ichigo froze as they heard a grumbling sound and then there was an entire eruption of flames around them like an inferno made them wonder if this was what hell was like.

"Step away" the head captain told Ichigo and Sakura "You cannot sacrifice yourself; neither of you are a member of the thirteen court guard squad"

"It doesn't matter" Ichigo said

"Do not make me repeat myself" he warned Ichigo

"What about your own squad members?" Aizen asked "After all this blazing inferno of yours is going to engulf them as well"

"They are prepared to die if necessary anything to exterminate your evil that is the will of the squads"

Ichigo noticed something "Behind you watch out" he shouted at Yamamoto

A figure appeared out of the flames and it was wonder wise in his released form; he looked strange and much bigger; the flames around them started to go out. Sakura could feel that this arancar was different; the flames all of them around them began to fade away. Aizen began to tell him that this was the role of Wonder Wise to rob the head captain of his zampakuto in other words it would be useless.

As the arancar came for him the head captain punched him back and actually cracked his body.

'Wow he's strong for an old man' Sakura thought as she watched him fight 'Then again he is the head captain he has to be for a reason.'

Sakura heard Aizen say something about this being the will of the Hougyoku and Wonder Wise had regenerated and was attacking him but the head captain appeared to be holding up. This arancar had very strange abilities; he was growing arms and using them to fight but the head captain was actually able to hold up. Sakura felt as his spiritual pressure began to sky rocket. He just punched the arancar and he began to crack into almost nothing.

Sakura stared in awe at how strong he was; though this seemed cruel on Sosuke doing this to an arancar despite the fact that they were hollows. She jumped slightly when she saw something bright coming from the remains of the arancar. The head captain was speeding towards it. There was suddenly a very large explosion and when it cleared; Sakura saw that the head captain had been burnt slightly. She guessed that the flames were really strong and would've turned everything to dust.

"Ichigo now" Sakura murmured to him

As Aizen was about to raise his sword against the head captain; Ichigo started to come towards him and then when the head captain launched a kiddo Ichigo appeared in his hollow form and used his Getsuga Tenshou with no hesitation. That cut him aside from his shoulder. Sakura saw the kidou was strong at so was the attack but Aizen wasn't as harmed as she thought he would be; the entire building that Aizen had jumped to was split in half but there was only a huge gash on the side of his shoulder when you consider what he was hit with it was hard to believe.

"What the hell?" Sakura murmured as she arrived beside Ichigo; she didn't feel like it was the right time for her to attack and yet she knew she might have to.

"I'm not done yet" Ichigo said throwing another attack but Aizen moved right passed the two of them and even though Ichigo threw it at him still he blocked it with his sword

"What's so funny?" Ichigo asked Aizen

"You missed your chance to kill me Ichigo Kurosaki" he said

"Don't be too sure I did manage to injure you-

"Injured? You call this an injury?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes as a familiar feel started to take place in front of her; the cut in his shoulder began to vanish but there were purple cracks regenerating him. Ichigo stepped back.

"Regeneration?" Ichigo asked in disbelief knowing that only hollows can do that

"No; this is merely a compulsion to protect its master" he said

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo asked

Sakura watched as Aizen pulled back his top and revealed a spear in the middle of his chest glowing a dim light violet. It felt strange to say this but it was affecting her somehow; it made her feel complete acceptance towards it; to the gem not Aizen and she could only conclude that it was the Hougyoku; that was why she felt so strange whenever she was around Aizen. He had a Hougyoku inside of him just as she was told she did. This Hougyoku; it made Sakura feel like it was compelling her to get it out of him.

Ichigo also noticed it "Yes it's the Hougyoku" Aizen said "You're spirit energy works very well; I'm please you matured splendidly just the way I wanted you to"

"What?" Ichigo asked no understanding this at all

"Months ago you met Rukia Kuchiki and following your battle with Uryuu Ishida you awakened to your own soul reaper powers" Ichigo's eyes widened "During your battle with Renji Abarai you learnt about the power of your zampakuto; during your battle with Kempachi Zaraki you became aware of your bankai during your battle with Byakuya Kuchiki you began your hollowfication; during your battle with Grimmjow you mastered your hollowfication and during your battle with Ulquiorra you gained an even greater power" by the look in his eyes it was true "The truth is Ichigo Kurosaki all of the battle you have fought up to now was simply a part of my plan"

Aizen's eyes narrowed as he said this; Sakura wondered about it how was it possible that he could do that; how could he made everything fall into place like he wanted to? He must have been watching them but if that was the case and he wanted everything to fall into place then why would he want Sakura? If this was all on Ichigo how was she involved; how did Aizen manipulate things into doing this?

"You said all the battles I fought were planned by you?" Ichigo asked "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"You don't have to raise your voice; there's nothing to be surprised by that; I made a conscious decision about you; I decided to actively assist your development because I believed you would be a great research subject that is all I am saying did you ever think it was strange you had never seen or even heard of hollows until you met Rukia Kuchiki and yet within a few days after meeting her you found yourself attacked by one; how do you supposed that Menos was drawn to that Quincy bait which can only attract low level hollows once you started getting used to fighting as soul reaper a very significant event occurred do think it was a coincidence that Rukia Kuchiki previously undetected spirit pressure was suddenly detected by the soul society. You battled Renji Abarai; Kempachi Zaraki; Byakuya Kuchiki don't you find it strange that against all these highly trained soul reapers your power was somehow comparable to theirs?"

As Aizen began explaining things Sakura had a few thoughts of her own going through her mind.

'_It's the Hougyoku _an almost menacing voice sound in her head 'It's the Hougyoku'

'The Hougyoku' Sakura repeated in her mind; she began to understand now. The Hougyoku wasn't meant to break the barrier between hollows and soul reapers but instead would bring about the manifestations of a person most inner desires. That was why Aizen was so calm and didn't flinch when he fought; he had set this; it was as if he was a god. He wanted all of this to happen but something had thrown off the calculation and that was her. Sakura realised that yet it was something she knew he wouldn't mention to her because he didn't know it either. Kisuke had said what the Hougyoku was and because he thought it was away to manipulate the boundary between hollows and soul reapers.

_The Hougyoku power is to manifest the deepest desires of the heart _

That was what Sakura heard in her mind; she was coming to conclusions but it wasn't of her own as Ichigo and Aizen were talking Sakura was in her own state of mind right now as she realised why things were going the way they were.

_The Hougyoku has a power and will of its own and will submit at the end of its understanding of its master's heart. _

'Does that go for me as well?' Sakura wondered 'Can the Hougyoku within me grant that kind of power?' her thoughts were interrupted when Aizen's voice interrupted her.

"I've known about you Ichigo since you were born the moment you were I knew you were a special case because you're a human and-

Suddenly there was a slash of a blade and Ichigo's father appeared wearing a soul reapers coat. Sakura's eyes widened and Ichigo's; they didn't need to hear the end of that sentence because the answer had just appeared before them.

"Dad is that you?" Ichigo stared in shock "Hey say something" his father started working towards them; Sakura quickly grabbed hold of Ichigo's arm; when his father suddenly head butted him back and then threw them off the cliff.

The two of them were flash stepped a little away from Aizen behind some building; Ichigo's dad had his whole hand over his sons face while Sakura just stared a little in disbelief before snapping out of it.

"I know what you want to ask" his dad said

"Um sir-

Sakura was cut off when Ichigo kicked Isshin in his face before sitting up; Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder and saw that he was still fine but hot tempered right now.

"I know that I have to be quite I was yelling because I couldn't breathe"

"Sorry" his dad said "You're not imagining this; I'm really here. We'll talk later" he said glancing up a little at Sakura "There's got to be a ton of things you want to ask me about-

"No not really" Ichigo said calmly although Sakura could feel there was a little pang of pain "You probably had your reasons for not telling me about anything; you had problems you didn't want to talk about there's not good way to ask you about them and I don't wanna rip your heart out with question right now; I can wait until you feel like telling me about it all. Whenever you decide the time is right"

"Seems you've become more matured and have more patients" Isshin observed

"I guess you could say that there are a few people who taught me a lot of good habits that made me change for the better" he said standing up "Thanks for hitting me"

Sakura dusted off her skirt as she looked at Ichigo and wondered if he was going to feel that same way. She knew more than she thought she should yet she held her tongue almost most of the time even when most of her instincts were correct. Sakura thought more about why the Hougyoku was almost drawing to her; she wondered why she had gotten so close to Ichigo when she said she wouldn't and then there was what Aizen said about planning it all out and yet for some reason she knew that he didn't expect her in this calculation of his because if that were true then he would've said something about it; he mentioned that she was the one he needed to unleash the Oken but she noted the slight surprise on his face when she arrived through the Garganta if only for a moment. If he really planned it all then he must have intended for her to stay there in Hueco Mundo.

'Could I be a gap in the plan?' she wondered

Ichigo and Sakura returned back to the top of the building where they saw Gin standing; they swung their weapons at him; Sakura kept her scythe in its sword form as she and Ichigo clashed with him. Aizen and Isshin started fighting with each other as well.

"That was a rather nice try" Gin said smiling at them "However when we clash again; I won't be holding back"

Ichigo and Sakura got into their fighting stances; Sakura watched Gin; he had something going on with him. Despite the fight they were going to go through there was nothing she could read; it was as if he was completely detached from that.

Suddenly his blade extended throughout the entire town cutting down the buildings and then at Ichigo and Sakura; the two of them held out their swords and stopped it before it came any closer but it kept extending.

"In its Bankai state Shinsou can extend thirteen kilometres" Gin said with a smile; Sakura and Ichigo couldn't believe what they just heard and couldn't really comprehend how that was possible even.

"Get back" Ichigo shouted grabbing onto Sakura and moving them both away from the blade before firing his own bankai back at him.

"You know the more time I spend with you the creepier you get" he told Ichigo smiling still; Sakura thought that he really had no right to say that

As Gin extended his blade at them Sakura blocked him off before jumping into the air when she found an opening and then her blade grew glowing "Witch hunter!" she shouted lowering her blade to Gin but he was fast and before she could even blink there was a flash and something cut her on the side. She stared eyes wide but didn't stop as she lowered her scythe towards him and managed to strike but he also avoided a lot of damage by backing away at the last moment.

"The only creepy one here is you" Sakura stated

"Oh really" Gin smiled wiping the blood off the side of his face "I beg to differ; you see the fact of the matter is I think you're even creepier than Ichigo"

Sakura narrowed her eyes "Is that a fact?" she asked

"Oh yes; you seem to have no concept of your own limits when it comes to protecting a comrade and you yet you didn't show much attachment as your comrades fell before your eyes. For an unknown entity of a soul reaper you are interesting"

Sakura scoffed "I better deal with the two of you while I'm still able or things may get troublesome if I were to drag this out long"

Feeling that something bad was about to happen Sakura stepped next to Ichigo to get ready; Gin held out his blade and they noticed it was small again; their eyes widened they hadn't taken their attention away from it and didn't understand when that happened.

"Now what shall I do to finish you off?" Gin asked them "You easily stopped my bankai but what would happen if I took you on one on one?" before they could even blink Gin had gone for Ichigo had started to clash swords with him and Ichigo was having trouble keeping up with the speed of his attacks. Gin suddenly broke away and then used his bankai again on Ichigo too suddenly for him to counter and cut him on his shoulder; luckily he moved away before any further damage could be done.

Sakura came up from behind him quickly with her scythe and then their zampakuto began to clash; they were back up fast as they fought. She figured that with the speed he was able to contract the blade was his strength but she didn't say it letting your opponents know that you knew their weakness was a dangerous thing especially if you got it wrong it would give your enemy an advantage.

Sakura spun around on her heel and with all her strength slashed as Gin who quickly jumped back onto a building "That was a close one" Gin smile "Anymore and you might've cut me; that scythe of yours is truly dangerous"

Ichigo materialised beside her "You alright?" he asked her

Sakura nodded and looked back up at Gin "I think I figured something out" Ichigo said "He's zampakuto strength isn't its length or destructive force; it's the speed it can be contracted"

Sakura's eyes widened as he said that; she was glad he figured it out but couldn't he keep his mouth shut about it.

"Well am I wrong?" Ichigo asked

Gin smiled wider "Well since you figured it out I guess I have no choice" placing his zampakuto under his arm he suddenly clapped "Did you hear that? My zampakuto isn't the longest but it is the fastest now that you know that you realise you have no chance of winning" he slashed at them again and their reaction time was so fast they barely had time to block it together.

"Now that was rather impressive" Gin said

Sakura and Ichigo stopped when they felt two new figures taking on Aizen who appeared differently this time; he was covered in white from head to toe and his eyes had become a dark purple while the Hougyoku stood in the centre of his chest.

Ichigo and Sakura watched as Isshin; Yoroichi and Urahara took on the newly transformed Aizen.

"Watch you" Gin said snapping them both out of their trance "Your backs and necks are wide open"

The two teens quickly turned around "Psyched you out didn't I; I was just messing with you"" Gin said as they noticed he was further back than they thought. Gin sat down on some of the rubble of the destroyed buildings

"How about we take a little break?" he said to them taking the two girls by surprise

"What?" Ichigo asked to see if he just heard right

"Take a load off" Gin said "Let's watch the action"

Though hesitant the two teenagers watched the battle taking placed; Yoroichi leapt at Aizen to punch him while Kisuke restrained one of his arms with a chain but he blocked Yoroichi attack and then as Isshin came down to deliver a blow with his sword he and Yoroichi were sent flying back by Aizen's.

"They won't defeat him" Gin said "I've been working with captain Aizen for a long time now but I've never seen him as effective as this of course I didn't know he had fused with the Hougyoku which may have given him a whole new level of power" so it seemed; he may have reached his limit as a soul reaper but he was going beyond that now; it was like hollowfication using it to step over that boundary "You probably don't realise it yet but there's nothing to two of you can do to stop him; he's going to kill all of you no matter what you do it's only a matter of time"

"There's no way we're gonna let that happen" Sakura stated

"That's no surprised I pretty much figured that's what you would say" Gin replied

"There's no telling what Aizen's capable of" Ichigo said "And he probably doesn't need you anymore now that he's this powerful"

There was a flicker of something in Gin's expression "Well I have to admit I wasn't expecting you to say that in fact the way you say it leads me to believe you may not be expecting to survive this battle" Gin said standing up finally; what Gin had just said seemed to trigger something in Ichigo's expression "Maybe somewhere deep inside you've given up any hope of winning this fight; my; my truly pathetic I was hoping you'd be better than that but I guess you both really are just kids; your weakened side; I couldn't possibly let captain Aizen waste his time fighting cowards like you" he held out his sword.

"What are you doing?" Ichigo asked moving Sakura behind him

Sakura and Ichigo moved to one side suddenly before they were hit by the sudden blade coming at them. Ichigo and Sakura couldn't believe how fast that was but they were taken by surprise again when there was another attack coming too fast this time for them to duck; out of reflex Ichigo grabbed Sakura and covered her with his body.

As the smoke cleared Ichigo appeared holding Sakura with his mask; he threw a Getsuga Tensho at Gin quickly; Ichigo blocked the attack coming at him; Sakura got out of Ichigo's grip and sped towards Gin but it wasn't any use when he retracted his sword and then aimed it right at her; she blocked him off as well; letting her eyes travel to the side his saw Ichigo's mask had cracked. She held a little while until she had a chance and moved at the last moment before firing her own attack creating a huge explosion.

Sakura fell to her knees and panted heavily

"You were so close" she heard Gin's voice "But I'm still here and I'm guessing you both took your best shots by unleashing your hollowfied attacks but there's something basic you don't seem to understand; earlier on you blocked my attack with your zampakuto and you honestly didn't think I could do the same how naïve of you both" he said "Hollowfication and bankai attacks neither one of them were successful so I'd say it's hopeless"

Sakura's eyes narrowed a little as he said this; was he talking to himself of them

"We wouldn't be in this position if I thought you still had something up your sleeves but you don't seem to have anything else now do you? Neither one of you are worriers any longer or a soul reaper or a hollow. You're not human either yet here you both sit confused yet thinking you could beat an opponent you whom your three comrades lost" Sakura turned to Ichigo and saw he was about to say something but Gin cut them off

"For your own good you should go; you don't want to die yet do you; the way you are now you would only disappoint captain Aizen, you're afraid; he's got you both scared. By now you must understand how much real power he possesses don't you?" Ichigo didn't move he just looked down at the rubble remains of the fake Karakura town

Gin started walking up to him; Sakura's eyes widened as he began to take out his sword as raise it at Ichigo then pointed it at him. Sakura got up and was about to run over to Ichigo when there was this huge rumbling sound and smoke coming from behind Ichigo out of this appeared Aizen in his new form and then three figures began to fall to the ground and they saw Kisuke; Yoroichi and Isshin fall. Ichigo and Sakura couldn't believe their eyes.

Sakura swallowed down her fear and ran over to Ichigo trying to snap him out of his shock but she couldn't find the words.

Aizen looked at Gin "Gin what you about to do to them were?" he asked

Gin shrugged "I thought I'd test their strength a little"

"I see" Aizen said; looking at him closely he had a crack in his form but it wasn't something that was an injury. Aizen started to walk away from them.

"Open the Senkaimon we will head to the real Karakura town in the soul society. There won't be any need to destroy the tenkaiketshu to successfully take down the palace it would certainly be to our advantage to create the Oken in the soul society"

"Right" Gin said holding out his sword

"Hold on" Sakura said as she and Ichigo stood up starring wide eyes; they watched as Aizen's form began to crack until his face showed but his eyes were different; they were a dark violet. Even Gin sounded a little surprised at this.

"Ah it seems I am at the end of the chrysalis stage and perfect timing to; I will now have the pleasure of seeing the end of the soul society with my own eyes" he smiled

Gin turned his sword and opened the gate to the soul society as they walked in Aizen turned around to look at the two soul reapers "I've decided to leave you here; when this is over you will both be devoured"

With that the gate vanished as the two made their way into the soul society.

* * *

**And there I am finished, sorry if it's not too great but it was a bit of a rush job since I realised it has been so long since I've updated. **

**Don't forget to review **


	24. Chapter 24

**Well I've been doing some serious updating since I won't get a lot of chances now, things are getting intense now as the war continues and feathers are about to fly in this chapter!**

* * *

Sakura and Ichigo stood there frozen; they had felt how strong Aizen had suddenly become and now their chances of beating someone like him was next to impossible; their thoughts were cut short when someone started shouting their names; they looked up and saw Isshin panting there.

"So what are you two waiting for open the Senkaimon" he told them

"Dad" Ichigo said shocked

Sakura and Ichigo helped support Isshin

"Let's go" he said to them "We've gotta go protect Karakura town" without giving them much time to respond he head butted Ichigo "Didn't you hear me; I said we are gonna go protect Karakura town"

"There's no way" Sakura said

"She's right there's no way that's it gonna work" Ichigo said

"We don't know for sure that it's hopeless!" Isshin shouted at them

"We know it and don't act like you don't know it!" Ichigo shouted back "We can't beat that level of sprit energy there's no way!"

Isshin's eyes widened; he pulled back from the two of them "I see; so you're both really able to comprehend Aizen's spirit energy huh?"

Taken back by 1this the two of them obviously nodded and looked ashamed because of it. Isshin started walking past them.

"Let's go" he said and then stopped "Are you coming?"

Sakura and Ichigo looked down unsurely; if they don't go the Oken would be created and the entire town would be destroyed but if they did go they had little confidence that they would be able to defeat Aizen at their current stage and Sakura wasn't sure how to use her Hougyoku to her advantage if she couldn't even comprehend how to use it. In either one of their situations it looked like Aizen was going to win.

"If not that then what?" Isshin asked them "Are you just staying here because you think you can't protect anything at all? Think this through; think about what this really means; if you don't go that means all the people you care about and everyone in Karakura town; they're all gonna die"

Ichigo clenched his jaw "You're right; open the Senkaimon"

Sakura nodded numbly

* * *

Aizen had already arrived in the soul society but had been thrown off course; while Sakura; Ichigo and Isshin ran through the Senkaimon which was the first time for Sakura as she observed that it was just a one way path with bones scattered on the ground and some kind of dark liquid dripping down the walls; it seemed Isshin noticed something and stopped them both.

"Stop" he told them

"What aren't we in a hurry here?" Ichigo asked

"There's no sign of the cleaner" Isshin observed

"What's that?" Sakura asked

"Some kind of spirit energy train like thing" Ichigo told her

"Yeah; usually a soul reaper can't do anything at all about the cleaner but from the traces of spiritual pressure; I'd say Aizen did something" he said in a serious tone

"So is it bad if the cleaners not here?" Sakura asked

"If we leave things like this; it's not good but right now it's good for us. As its names suggest the press of this world is on the edge; it's a place isolated temporally and specially from the world of the living and the soul society. The cleaner existed to limit those who entered from staying here too long but right now it's not here so I'll be able to teach you both in this place"

"Teach us what?" Sakura asked

Isshin looked at Ichigo "While Sakura trains to increase her spiritual pressure you have to learn the final Getsuga Tenshou" he said Ichigo's eyes widened; he then turned to Sakura

"The final Getsuga Tenshou" Ichigo said shocked

"That's right" Isshin said

"And you want to teach it to me in this place; why do it here?" Ichigo asked

"The press of this world is a disconnected space and it is surrounded by multiple layers of temporal torrent" he said

Sakura nodded but Ichigo just looked confused "Ok; I got you" he said unsurely

"You don't have to know what that means Ichigo" Isshin sighed

"To put in simple" Sakura started "The density of time in here is overwhelmingly higher than the density of time outside."

Isshin nodded "The difference in unbelievable; in the time one year passes in our world two thousand years will pass by in here besides being the passage to the world of the living this place is also used to exile criminals ; that's the reason why the restrictive current and cleaner exist. The restricting current snared you; escape from it is impossible and death is imminent if the cleaner comes in contact with you you'll be hurled off the present and be completely thrown off your original time maxis; that's the reason why there was a difference of several days from when you first entered the soul society it was the result of the cleaning pursuing you. But right now since the cleaner is not here it's the perfect opportunity to gain time; if you train for two thousand hours here only one hour will have gone outside. There's a way to stop the restrictive current"

Reaching down Isshin pulled something out of his kimono; it looked like four bars of some kind attacked with rope; he threw them all on either side of him and then attached the ropes to his wrist.

He told them that this was realm fixation; he said he was going to hold down the restrictive current until his spirit energy was used up which was about two thousand hours for the two of them.

"Use that time to get an answer" he told Ichigo

"Answer?"

"That's right; find out what works; get your sword Zangetsu to tell you what the final Getsuga tenshou is"

After all the explained Ichigo sat down crossed legs getting ready to see Zangetsu while Sakura sat down opposite him; she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do about her powers but if she talked maybe to her zampakuto she would probably get an answer.

Sakura and Ichigo looked each other in the eyes one more time and smiled a little at each other as if wishing one another good luck before closing their eyes and attempting to open the world in them.

She hoped that Ichigo would be alright in his world. There was that unsettling feeling about this but with one last look at Ichigo's face; Sakura sat down crossed legged like Ichigo and then placed her weapon on her lap like Ichigo had and then closing her eyes she began to enter into her world.

Unaware any longer about the outside world or their physical forms

* * *

When Sakura opened her eyes she was back in her world but there was something wrong; it was completely engulfed by lava. She watched as the ground spilled with hot molten lava; looking down she realise she was standing it in but there was no painful feeling coming from it but she started to panic as it began to rise and rise and then she was soon under the lava. She started to attempt to get up to the surface but she was pulled back by something and landed on the ground hard. Looking up she saw a figure wearing a red hood and long black dress.

"Don't hold your breath like that you idiot" she told Sakura "You can breadth in here"

Taking a risk Sakura took a breath and realised that she was right; looking up at the hooded figure now she noted that this really was her world "What are you doing here?" Sakura asked her "Where is Kuresento Kage Rozu?"

The women smirked "Oh that's right come to think of it; this is the first time you've ever come here in your bankai form same goes for Ichigo Kurosaki"

Sakura's eyes widened; the women raised her hand and then in a flash her Akuma Kuresento Kage Rozu appeared in her hands; the figure threw off the hood on her head that was covering her face; she had long dark hair with a red streak running down her hair; she had sharp looking teal eyes. Suddenly she came down towards Sakura with her scythe; Sakura got ready for her attack with her own scythe as the two went back together.

"Kuresento Kage Rozu; it is you right?" Sakura asked

"You're wrong" she said "What is the name of your bankai? I am Akuma Kuresento Kage Rozu"

Sakura gasped as she was sent flying back into the trees as she crashed; she spat out blood.

"It's not surprising you wouldn't recognise me; this is the first time you've come here in your bankai form" her zampakuto said

Sakura stood up and wiped her mouth from the blood "Why did you do that?" Sakura asked "I only came here to ask you a question"

"I know" her zampakuto said "You want to go back to aura is that correct so that she can teach you how to use the Hougyoku?"

Sakura didn't say anything and her silence was enough of a reply for her "Very well" Raising her scythe Akuma Kuresento Kage Rozu appeared behind Sakura and pierced her blade through Sakura's chest as the blood started to flow freely Sakura began to close her eyes "When you open your eyes you shall be at your destination" she told Sakura

* * *

Ichigo wasn't having much luck in his world either which was no completely under water; he came to find his zampakuto in its bankai form; although Ichigo had pleaded he wasn't there to start a fight only to ask a question it seemed that his Tensa Zangetsu already knew this and he said that he wouldn't teach Ichigo the final Getsuga Tenshou because what he wanted to protect was no concern of his. He told Ichigo that what he wanted to protect was not the same thing that Tensa Zangetsu wanted to protect. Ichigo had gone to attack Tensa Zangetsu in a rage wanting to know what he meant by that and he was told to look around at his world. It wasn't just submerged in water because Ichigo had lost hope and it began to rain here and the sky scrapers were reduced now.

After explaining all of this Tensa Zangetsu came towards Ichigo and plunged his hand into Ichigo's chest causing him to spit up blood "Ichigo I cannot leave you like this; I will rip out the root of your despair" he said as he moved his hand out of Ichigo's chest something white and covered in blood came out with it.

Ichigo struggled through the pain and as he looked up he saw something he hoped he never would; a hollow with a black mask and warns wearing a white coat with long white hair and with a white Tensa Zangetsu sword.

"What's up; it's been a long time Ichigo" he said shifting his sword to the other hand and Ichigo knew that it was his inner hollows voice. "What's with that look of yours?" he asked raising his hand to his mask "Don't act like you don't know me" and Ichigo saw a smirking hollow version of himself.

Ichigo's eyes widened "I watched you disappear after I defeated you in our last fight"

"Huh; so did you forget? I warned you the only way you could really control me was to stay alive at least until the next time I showed up" he said putting his mask back on his face

"Damn and all this time I thought I destroyed you for good" Ichigo groaned in frustration

"Oh really; well too bad for you" he said

"So what's up with the new look it looks ridiculous on you" Ichigo said

"That's right; this is the first time you've seen it" Tensa Zangetsu said "This is exactly the way you looked when you defeated Ulquiorra"

Ichigo's eyes widened in shock as he thought back to when he fought Ulquiorra; he didn't remember anything about the attacks on him only the condition after when he saw the espada "I looked like he does?"

"That's right; this form is the manifestation of your greatest fear; you feared letting your soul being consumed by your destructive impulse. It's what prevented you from hollowfying"

"So then what is it that you want me to do here; am I supposed to fight this guy now and defeat him?"

"No" Zangetsu replied taking Ichigo off guard "This is not the opponent that you will fight"

"You will fight us" the inner hollow started

"As one" his zampakuto finished and Ichigo watched as they began fusing together; first they started to break into tiny particles of light before merging together and creating one being; Ichigo watched and waited as a new entity formed before him and began to rise. He was wearing a white coat; with half of his hollow mask on his head but not on his face and one of his eyes were normal while the other held a hollow's eye.

"This is our true form Ichigo" he said looking at Ichigo "We are the same; the two of us are your power"

Ichigo gasped as he came towards him "Here I come Ichigo!" and Ichigo prepared for the strike

* * *

Red mist started to clear and when Sakura opened her eyes she was back in the place where she had found Aura before but she had been taken to where the bed lied; she was lying on the bed. Sakura got off and started to look around; although she knew that this was the exact place where she had first found aura; the source of her Hougyoku it was different though.

"Aura" Sakura called; she looked around this entire place was darker; the sky was a dark shade of blue and black with purple snow flake like shapes on top; the trees had withered and all of the rose bushes were now thorn bushes as far as the eye could see it was like it was creating a cage.

Sakura looked at the ground; the grass had died and was soft now almost like it could sink you.

"What's wrong with this place?" Sakura asked herself

"It's all because of you" a familiar voice told her; Sakura turned her head and saw Kyora standing there but she looked different than before though; her hollow mask was on the side of her head as well.

"Why do you look like that Kyora?" Sakura asked her inner hollow

Kyora didn't blink when she asked that "This is exactly how you looked when you lost all control and went against that arancar Tesra to save Ichigo Kurosaki"

Sakura had a look of surprise; she looked like that? She had never even known; when she attacked Tesra that time it was because all she could think about was saving Ichigo no matter what even if it meant losing her life.

"What's going on?" Sakura asked her "Why is this happening?"

"Didn't I just say?" Kyora asked lowering herself to the ground "This is all because of you; because of you; these two worlds have been engulfed by flames and darkness because of your goal to protect Ichigo Kurosaki; you would be willing to do anything"

"Of course" Sakura nodded "But I don't have time for this right now I have to find Aura; I need her help-

"So that you can ask if there's a way for you to use the Hougyoku to defeat Aizen and help Ichigo?"

Sakura hesitated for a few moments before nodding "Yes" she said and clenched her fists "I want her to teach me how to use the Hougyoku within me and how I can use it to defeat Aizen"

Kyora looked at her master before raising her scythe and pointing it at her "I'm afraid we can't let that happen"

The ground started to shift in front of her hollow and Sakura watched as her Akuma Kuresento Kage Rozu began to emerge from the ground also holding a scythe. Sakura wanted to know what was the meaning of this; in all of her time as a soul reaper and as a hollow; as a visored she has never seen Kyora look at her like this even when they first met neither she nor Kuresento Kage Rozu had behaved like this towards her; they always welcomed her with opened arms and were always happy to lend her their power and allow her to fight with them.

"But why?" Sakura asked "Ichigo's zampakuto is going to teach him the final Getsuga Tensho so I need Aura to teach me how to-  
"Neither of that is going to happen" Kyora snapped looking at her "Zangetsu and Ichigo's inner hollow will not allow him to learn the final Getsuga Tensho and you shall never learn how to use the Hougyoku to defeat Aizen"

With her mouth gaping at her hollow's sudden stern tone she got her bearing together before glaring at her "Why is that?"

"We cannot allow you to do that" Kuresento Kage Rozu said "We will not let you sacrifice any more for that boy"

Her two power sources turned to each other and holding up their hands to one another they vanished into small particles of lights and then just like Ichigo's became one. Sakura saw this and was actually able to comprehend that they were coming together as one. Her hollow and Zampakuto were merging together and she could only guess that the one purpose of this was to stop her from finding Aura. For what reason though she couldn't comprehend that.

"Are you going to fight me now?" Sakura asked

As the entity's became one; her hollow and her zampakuto; long black hair; a white hood that seemed to be dropping petals of snow at the bottom; the eyes of a hollow and the silver one of a human zampakuto; usual styled kimono top with white combat skirt. She was both beautiful and deadly.

"If we have no other choice" she said raising her scythe at Sakura "We both have something we want to protect and that is not Ichigo Kurosaki or the soul society"

Sakura readied her scythe as the newly formed entity sped towards her and knocked her back. Sakura noted that she was stronger than she appeared now; no longer were either of them in the form of a child but more of an adult.

'This might be tougher than I thought' Sakura began thinking as she began to clash with her two powers single form now. The sparks from their swords flew as they fought; Sakura swung her scythe but was knocked back at her own powers appending force and crashed into the ground. Once she hit it; the grounds started to ooze some kind of black liquid. Sakura stood up and shook it off before she barely blocked another attack; pushing herself away from her opponent; she held out her scythe and pulling back the trigger on it and holding it a red light started to form and then releasing fired at the entity.

Sakura couldn't help but smile a little but that was short lived when she saw the figure appear out of the dust and then holding up her scythe ran it down creating a huge explosion in Sakura's direction.

* * *

Ichigo panted heavily in exhaustion as he stared at this newly formed person of his power; he had barely managed to avoid his attacks and while Ichigo had started growing tired this thing hadn't even seemed to be breaking a sweat fighting him; Ichigo wasn't able to block him with his own zampakuto. He was stronger and faster than Ichigo had anticipated but despite that he knew that if he stopped now he wouldn't be able to learn the final Getsuga Tensho.

"You launched your body at the last second a useless effort" he said

Ichigo wasn't able to reply when the new Zangetsu flashed towards him and then from behind wounded him on his shoulder. Ichigo was sent to the back while Zangetsu flew to the front.

"Now you see the difference in our power; you think you can force anything out of me; don't make me; don't make me laugh!" he started to speed towards Ichigo once again and he seemed very aggressive while doing so as Ichigo moved out of the way at the last moment but the recovery time of this entity was fast.

"You won't get away!" he said as the two swords made contact again and then it began to repeat over and over again as Ichigo tried to find some kind of opening so that he could strike him.

"Whatever it takes; I will get it out of you!" Ichigo glared; determined more than anything; he was stopped by Zangetsu who had a very scary serious expression on his face.

"That's enough" he said before bellow him the surface began to shine a bright light and then created a tycoon that sucked Ichigo into it.

"What the hell?" Ichigo said in surprise

"Now you will disappear from this world of your" the entity told Ichigo; watching as he was launched away.

'Damn what's he thinking?' Ichigo thought to himself 'Why's he trying to kick me out of this world; I don't have time for this'

As he thought about all the people that were at risk right now if he didn't win a new resolve seemed to take effect. Ichigo raised both of his arms with his sword and as the black flames started to emerge he finally shouted "Getsuga Tenshou!" breaking through the tycoon before coming over to the new Zangetsu who seemed to notice his presence as he watched him from on top of one of the sunken sky scrapers.

"So you're back again"

"Yeah sorry but you should know that I don't give up that easily so I'm gonna be here a little longer" he said

"A little longer"

Pointing his sword forward Ichigo smirked "Yeah; so what do you say we get this part started?" Ichigo launched over to him "I'm bringing all I got!"

Once again their swords clashed together in frenzy over and over again as Ichigo refused to waver this time and apparently his power noticed this.

"What's changed in you?"

"Not sure" Ichigo held out his sword "But I'll tell you; my friends are counting on me. I won't let them down."

"So everyone waiting for you; that may be important to you but it's really of no concern to me"

"It's clear that's how you think; you told me all of that before" Ichigo said "But here's how I see it what I want to protect is never changed. It may be very different than what concerns you but that's not the issue; I will protect whomever I want to protect!"

"And that's what you'll use Getsuga Tenshou for?"

"That's right" Ichigo snapped coming at him again this time with no restraint in them; as the two began to clash with each other over and over again and again; Ichigo finally picked up that there was something different now about this. He's sword there was a different feeling within it.

After a while they broke apart again each backing away from the other "Here's a question for you Ichigo earlier you said something; if I keep knocking you down; you'll keep getting up"

"Right so what are you getting at?" Ichigo asked

"Fine very well" gripping his sword Zangetsu began to soar into the air with his sword held high coming down onto Ichigo "Then allow me to test you!"

Ichigo charged at him with the same force until they both finally made contact together with their swords and flew into opposite directions as they broke apart.

* * *

Sakura coughed out blood and wiped her mouth as she regained her footing again; this was getting out of control for what felt like a few hours she has been doing nothing but clash with her own zampakuto and inner hollow combined together as one entity.

"I told you it's useless" the entity told her as Sakura tired another attempt to attack but all that happened was their scythe's clashing again and again with almost no end until one would pull away which was usually Sakura; she hoped that Ichigo was having better luck than she was right now because this was turning out to be a really hard task. She wasn't able to duck every blow at this things speed and strength was almost beyond comparison to her own but she wouldn't admit defeat.

Sakura jumped into the air and then coming back down clashed with her zampakuto but was pushed back by her force and landed hard onto the thorn bushes. Wiping away the blood from her wounds she got up panting heavily. This world wasn't helping in her matter; it was freezing in here; deadly cold yet no snow fell. She looked over her powers; looking into their eyes that held no remorse perhaps she was wrong to think that a hollow could ever really possess a heart or at least be linked to hers. The attacks were brought down on her with no restraint; no hesitance and no remorse as she nearly killed herself.

"Why do you keep getting back up?" she asked Sakura pointing her scythe at her

"Because no matter what I will find Aura and I will use the Hougyoku's power to defeat Aizen and finally put an end to this war" she said thought pants

"Don't be foolish"

Sakura smirked a little despite her pain and throbbing body; if Ichigo wouldn't give up why should she right? There was nothing that would make her waver especially not her own powers. She would keep getting back up.

"I will not stop" Sakura said running towards her entity "I refuse to stop until I have my answers"

Their blades began clashing again together but that didn't last long as Sakura was held down and then pushed back forcibly and then taking a few painful twists and turns as she was rammed through the ground and finally stopped when her back hit a tree painfully with a loud thud before the tree cracked and crumbled into ask.

Sakura gasped for air as she had the wind knocked out of her 'What the hell was that?' she thought to herself starring wide eyes. She looked up and saw the way her entity looked at her now; stern but calm as if sure she was going to win. Sakura; flinched a little as she took a step in Sakura's direction.

Sakura shivered and coughed; she started to stand up again with her weapon ready in hand as her opponent appeared before her again Sakura tried to match her moves but she was just stronger than her; better yet despite all of this there was the feeling of sorrow coming from her scythe as it clashed with Sakura's.

'Why?' Sakura thought to herself sadly 'Why are you doing this to me?'

She thought about the time she had first met her hollow and her zampakuto very long ago

* * *

_The red hooded girl came over to Sakura "You've heard us calling you right; in your dreams?" _

_Sakura gasped "T-That was you?" _

_They nodded; hollow Sakura rubbed the back of her head "Yeah; sorry about that but I really don't get all of this crap so we really needed someone to clear things up but it looks like even our own creator doesn't understand" _

"_Not in the least sorry so are you going to tell me your names?" _

"_What are you stupid or something?" the hollow Sakura asked "We're you're creations you should know our names or if not mine then at least hers" she pointed _

"_Oh…." Sakura said "Can I name you then if I already know hers?" she asked her hollow version _

_She nodded "Sure thing" _

"_How about I call you Kyora?" she pointed to her hollowfied version and then turned to the hooded girl "I think your name is Kuresento Kage Rozu" _

_Smiling bright the red hooded girl nodded "Very good you got it on your very first try" _

_Sakura returned the smiled and her hollow did the same "I'm so glad that I finally have a name" _

_Nodding Sakura looked around this place "So this is my world huh?" _

_They both nodded "Yup; from the bottom of your soul?" _

"_But why?" Sakura asked not understanding much about this; Kyora and Kuresento Kage Rozu glanced at each other for a moment and held their gaze before turning to her "We don't really know honestly perhaps it's for us?" _

"_Yeah; alright that's fine; at least now I won't be lonely anymore" she smiled at them _

_They both nodded their heads in agreement. "Yeah" Kyora nodded "And now we can give you power" _

_Sakura gasped "What?" _

_Kuresento Kage Rozu nodded in agreement "Yeah; we'll help you become stronger than ever" _

_Smiling brighter Sakura couldn't help the tear that fell down her face as the two of them began to speak again to her. _

"_We promise you'll never be lonely again" they said together "And we promise to always….._

* * *

Sakura was cut out of her thoughts by her zampakuto and Hollow's voices

"If you refuse to surrender this foolish resolve of yours of stopping Aizen then we will have no choice but to cast you from this world you created!"

Sakura saw the entity begin to glow a bright blue around its form and the scythe and then hovered it over her head before bringing it down with swift force. Sakura avoided the blast at the last minute and moved out of the way but she was knocked onto her back again. Sakura stood up and tried to keep her balance.

Sakura looked up and saw that her entity was coming down towards her again and this time she was using the Demon god Hunter technique which could easily kill her yet Sakura saw something; some kind of sudden sign in her eyes and then finally as her heart came to a resolution she smiled and dropped her scythe as it hit the ground her opponent pierced her blade through Sakura's chest.

The entity looked down at the blade in Sakura's form now as the girl smiled; she realised that she had found the answer to win and that was to surrender her weapon and get run through by it.

"You figured it out" the girl said looking up at Sakura

"There's no pain"

"Of course not; if you accept me there can be no pain; when I run you through. Ichigo had discovered this now as well not long ago"

Sakura's smiled widened that's good; she looked down at the women "But why are you crying?"

"Because of the path you have just chosen; the both of you now" she looked up at Sakura with tear filled eyes "Remember when I said that I had something to protect that wasn't Ichigo or the soul society?"

Sakura nodded; she remembered how she was told to stop her resolve "Sakura what hurts the most for you?" she asked her

"Not to be able to protect Ichigo and to never know what could've been" she replied

"That's right and do you know what would hurt the most for me?" she asked as tears slipped past her face "What we want to protect all this time is you Sakura" Sakura gasped as she said this "What hurts us the most is watching you sacrifice yourself over and over again to him with no concern for your own life. Now the path you have chosen has sealed your fate and this will be the last time"

Sakura narrowed her eyes slightly "What do you mean?" she asked

"The rest will be explained to you by Aura" she said letting go of her scythe and leaving it in Sakura; she started to walk away as the entire place began to become clouded in mist; Sakura watched as the entity vanished from her sight. "Farewell"

Sakura watched as she vanished into thin air and then as the mist began to clear Sakura saw that the world had changed back to normal again and the air around her was no longer colder; the sky's changed back to their multi colours as well and Sakura was more than relieved about this. She felt at ease. Her wounds began to clear themselves until there was no trace of it.

"Sakura" a voice behind her murmured and turning around Sakura saw a girl with long straight light pink hair and teal coloured eyes; she was wearing a white dress and she knew that this was an older Aura

"Aura" Sakura called her looking at the girl floating in the air

She smiled and waved a hand at Sakura which Sakura returned with a smile on her face but she couldn't help the tears streaming down her face slowly and she didn't know why.

"Aura; will you tell me?" Sakura asked wiping the tears streaming down her face finally stopping them "Will you tell me; how to use the Hougyoku-

Sakura was cut off when Aura came down to her and placed a finger on Sakura's lips before pointing behind her and Sakura knew she was saying that can wait. Sakura turned around to see what had Aura's attention and turning around Sakura saw a tall figure standing there in black and with long hair but the colour of it was enough to tip her off. Sakura ran up to him.

"Ichigo" she called; Ichigo turned around and Sakura looked up at him noting just how tall he had become and how his hair had grown. Then again it was the same with her; she was different to; her hair was curled more now at the bottom and her height had changed a bit as well.

Sakura looked and saw Ichigo's sword attacked to his hand with a chain running up his arm; so he really had found his answer.

"Sakura" Ichigo said smiling a little before taking his free hand and pulling her into a hug

Sakura smiled at him and looked up "I'm so glad; you did it right?"

Ichigo nodded "Yeah; so are you ready to go?"

Sakura's smile faltered and she looked down "I'm sorry Ichigo" she pulled away from him a little "I can't join you immediately but I know our time is up so please" she looked up at him with determination in his eyes "Take my body out with you to the soul society" she said to him

Ichigo's eyes widened slightly "But Sakura-

She shook her head "There's still something that I have to do here; you got your answers now please let me stay a little longer so that I can get mine please?"

Ichigo looked into her eyes and just couldn't say no to her "Alright then" He released her from his grip

"Thank you Ichigo" she said heart warningly

"But promise me" Ichigo started making her falter "Promise me that you're going to come back; promise that you'll come back to me"

Sakura gasped lightly as he said this then nodded; Ichigo smiled "Good" he turned around "I'm going now to take care of Aizen"

As he said this she moved closer to him "Ichigo"

Turning around Ichigo looked down at her form; over the time he noticed that she's changed a bit but still at the same time the same. She lifted her hand gently to her face and stood on her toes as she did Ichigo leaned into her face until their lips met; they held still for a few final moments before pulling back

Ichigo looked at her as his form began to fade until he was gone; neither of them said anything to each other as he finally vanished Sakura turned her attention back to Aura and strolled towards her.

"I'm ready" she said "Please teach me"

Aura nodded and smiled at her; she held out her hand and without hesitating Sakura took her hand and the two of them began to shine into a bright light before vanishing from the world themselves.

**Well there you go, I hope you enjoyed it and that it wasn't all too crazy to handle. **

**Please Review your readers bye for now. **


	25. Chapter 25

**Hello wonderful readers, I know it's been a really, really long time since I updated this story but I have a good reason. I had finished the last couple of chapters a very long time ago and only had to edit them when suddenly one day when I came to double check them the entire chapter was gone. I'm not sure what happened to it. Anyway because of that I had to rewrite it and it was literally two years ago that I finished off this story but because all the data was lost and I had a hard time remembering what I wrote it took me a while. **

**So now I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

"Where are we?" Sakura asked looking around

"This" Aura gestured around her to the grey, dull world surrounded by giant vines of thorns that promised pain to anyone that got tangled up in it. "Is where you will learn to control the power within you?"

Sakura looked around, finding it hard to believe that this was where she would learn to control the Hougyoku; there was nothing here other than a giant thorn patch making path-paths that lead in different directions.

"You have to go through this maze" Aura said

Sakura raised an eyebrow, after everything else she had to go through when she came into this world all of this seemed a little easy...too easy.

"Is that all?"

"You sound so disappointed, this maze will prove to be one of the hardest tasks you may ever have to overcome in your life; it was made to protect the dormant power of the Hougyoku. There will be a challenge in there unlike any other and if you fail...

"I won't" Sakura said with determination in her eyes "I've come too far now and there is nothing that I won't be able to come not with what's at stake."

Aura nodded "Then I leave it to you."

With that she vanished and Sakura was left in the eerie place to walk a path she may never return from.

"Here I go."

* * *

Returning to a world that seemed to be barely holding onto a thread of existence was something that would usually set a person off but Ichigo looked on in still calmness starring at Aizen with an ever so rare passive expression as opposed to his usual frowning face he wore when he was about to fight. His tall figure holding onto Sakura and his father who were both unconscious for different reasons; he also spotted his friends watching him with shocked expressions Tatsuki; Keigo, Chizuru, Mizuiro and Don Kanoji. How they were awake, he wasn't too sure but that was something he could think about later.

"Is that Ichigo?" Keigo asked in shock "It is him, why is his hair so long?"

Turning around he placed his father and Sakura before closing his eyes feeling for Yuzu and Karin all the way back at their home where he concluded they were alright. He turned back to face his friends with a small smile.

"Tatsuki, Keigo; Mizuiro, Chizuru, Don Kanonji."

All of his friends stared at him in silence

"Stay still and don't move."

"What do you mean by that?" Keigo asked

Tatsuki continued to stare at Ichigo in complete and utter shock; she wasn't able to feel anything from Ichigo. From Aizen she was able to sense his spiritual pressure but for Ichigo...there was nothing.

"Ichigo Kurosaki." Aizen said looking directly at the young soul reaper but Ichigo's eyes were trailing elsewhere.

To Gin who was lying completely still on top of the rubble and hovering over him was Rangiku with tears streaming down her face. It was obvious he had missed more than he bargained for but he was about to make up for it.

"Are you really Ichigo Kurosaki?" asked Aizen starring at him.

Ichigo looked back with an ever so stoic expression "What exactly do you mean?"

"Well if you really are him, I'd say you're disappointing." Stated Aizen "I don't feel a thing; you have no spirit energy. Even if you were suppressing your energy, I would still be able to sense it. You have failed to evolve, you let the final chance I gave you slip away what a waste of time."

Gin opened his eyes for what would be his final moments he was sure to look at Ichigo though he could sense nothing from the boy; he saw a look in his eyes that held more power assuring him that he was now at a level where he would be able to die in peace leaving the rest to Ichigo.

"Regrettable, for you-

"Aizen" Ichigo called before casting his eyes away "Let's not do this here; I'd rather we fought somewhere else."

Ichigo's mind was on all of the sleeping citizens of Karakura that would become tragic casualties if they fought here, he knew that neither of them would be able to help it.

"An impertinent suggestion" said Aizen "Only someone who has the power to give me a real challenge has the right to make such a request. There is no need to worry, I will not destroy Karakura town, you will-

Before Aizen was able to utter another word; he was grasped roughly in the face by Ichigo and moved through the air along with Ichigo at such speed he was barely able to comprehend what had happened before Ichigo shoved him to the ground of a mountain side, taking them far away from Karakura.

When the dust cleared Aizen was crouching down holding his face in shock.

"How could he...impossible."

Ichigo landed on the opposite side of Aizen starring at him "Now let's do this Aizen; I'll end this in an instant."

Aizen stared at him "End this in an instant?" he looked at Ichigo's form and smirked "Now I see; it's all become clear to me. I know why I didn't sense your energy. You didn't lose your spirit energy; you discarded it. I don't know how you did it but it seems you took all you spirit energy and converted it into your body's physical strength, arms strength, leg strength, your strong grip. The power in your running and throwing; so in exchange for this drastic improvement in every single one of your physical abilities you chose to discard you remaining spirit energy. You've given up fighting against my spirit energy with your energy but that won't help. You will learn that new physical strength you're counting on is inferior compared to the breaches of my own power."

The Hougyoku began reacting inside of Aizen's chest as the giant wing like structures on his back rose. Ichigo stared at him calmly

"You done?"

There was a flash of light before Aizen vanished and reappeared behind Ichigo swinging his sword in the his direction but Ichigo has seen it as well and blocked with his sword that appeared bound onto his arm. As they moved back the impact coursed and entire mountains top to break and crumble.

As they separated Aizen watched him carelessly "You bared that well but you still must be rather shocked. The landscape changes with a single slash of my sword, my power are growing; honestly I didn't know my abilities actually improved so much until you decided to show up thanks to you I'm quite happy, you see with you here I can test my powers that transcend those of hollows and soul reapers to my heart's content."

Aizen went in for another attack and began clashing swords with Ichigo once more, the landscape around them crumbing with every swing of their swords. As Aizen came in for yet another attack Ichigo flash stepped away.

"I'm not finished" Aizen said "Did you really think I wouldn't be able to predict your movement?"

Aizen came down towards Ichigo for another attack but Ichigo was able to evade him yet again.

As Ichigo blocked Aizen's sword again he spoke "What an odd coincidence, it seems we have both reached a similar evolution which I see as the truest form of the zampakuto, through introspection our right arms have almost completely fused with our zampakuto."

Looking at Ichigo's arm Aizen smirked "What's so funny?" Ichigo asked

"You know I just realised something while we clashed, it's clear your evolution and mine are at very different levels. If I decide to, I have the power to shatter your zampakuto with one swing!"

With that he swung his sword towards Ichigo with full intent of doing as he stated but in a shocking relapse Ichigo stopped the sword...with his bare hand grasping it calmly.

The ground behind him shook and the earth broke apart becoming a deep crater as Aizen stared in disbelief.

'Impossible...he caught it? I can understand moving out of the way although with my sword coming at him with such a speed he shouldn't be able to do that; by dodging my slash he would've eliminated the risk of getting hurt but he chose to do this instead. He caught it with his bare hand.'

Ichigo's voice brought Aizen out of his shocked stated "You look surprised. Was it really such a mind blowing thing to you? Yes I caught your sword. Does that scare you that something you can't comprehend happened right before your eyes and you couldn't stop it?"

Aizen laughed humourlessly "Very funny Ichigo Kurosaki"

Jumping back Aizen spoke "Something I can't comprehend or stop you say? Don't talk as if you've already won this fight; what just happened was simply a moment where your physical strength temporarily exceeded mine, miracles do happen like that from time to time but I am a being who surpasses even the miraculous. I will make sure and anomaly like that never happens again by crushing your form with kiddo!"

A dark purple light began to envelop Aizen as well as the area around him as he chanted "The oozing crest of corruption; the arrogant vessel of madness. Deny the seething urge to let things stun and flicker; disrupt the sleep. The crawling princess of iron, the eternally self destructing doll of mud unties, repulse, fill the earth and know your own powerlessness. Pado number 90 Kurohitsugi!"

A giant wall of black began to grown around Ichigo as Aizen watched with arrogant eyes.

"A full incantation Kurohitsugi performed by one who transcends both hollow and soul reaper it's power unleashes enough gravity to warp time and space. The likes of which you can never even comprehend! Perish Ichigo Kurosaki!"

Ichigo stood calmly allowing the giant wall to engulf him entirely, it stood several feet tall as a building, Aizen watched in satisfaction as he had taken care of the orange haired soul reaper now all that was left was to take care of was the pink haired soul reaper that was still sound asleep.

His thoughts were interrupted when there was the sound of shattering and Ichigo become visible through his spell as it shattered like glass.

"You still don't realise it do you?" asked Ichigo "The power I have right now is greater than the power you possess; that huge force that erased that entire mountain; that was my sword. Now it's my turn Aizen."

With an attack too quick for the eye to catch Ichigo slashed across Aizen's shoulder watching blood splatter.

* * *

"It's as if this maze has no end and I can't jump up to see where I am." Sakura hissed as she looked around the eerie thorn vines; she had been walking for what literally felt like hours but she continued to push on doing her best to map herself out but she had lost track of herself a while back now she was simply walking through with no idea of where she was going or what exactly it was she was supposed to be looking for and find. Aura had warned her that this place was dangerous but she hadn't fully explained to Sakura what kind of dangers would be lurking in here.

There was no turning back now though and she was certain that Ichigo was in more danger which only fuelled her determination to help him in any way that she could.

There was suddenly a cracking noise that caught her attention; turning around Sakura saw that the maze had begun to close in as the large bushes of thorns began merging together getting closer to her, Sakura started to break into a faster run sprinting through the maze as it began closing in on her. Paths were becoming blocked so she had to stop and turn in a different direction several times.

'What's happening?'

The maze continued to close off more paths as Sakura ran, she felt an odd rush running through her filing her with excitement as she dashed through.

"This is easy!" she exclaimed as she continued to duck and doge the bushes taking swift turns to the cleared paths until finally she reached a clearing. She found herself standing in some kind of clearing but the mazes paths continued, she was about to make another run for it when the paths shut closed on her. Sakura gasped and looked around frantically.

The entire maze began closing in on her and there was nowhere for her to run anymore. Sakura looked around frantically but there was promise of little way to escape. The vines started to move in a tentacle like manner and wrapped around her, she winced as the sharp thorns pierced through her skin like it was butter.

'No...'

* * *

Reaching out his hand Aizen touched the wound that Ichigo had inflicted on him not only a few moments ago.

"What a strange feeling" said Ichigo "When I backed away from you in our last battle, you asked me why. But now you're doing the exact same thing. So let me ask you the same question. Why did you back away just now?"

Aizen stared at Ichigo, his eyes blazing with clear fury as the hand fused with his sword shook "I see, you're pleased that you stopped my sword? Are you pleased that you overcame my kido? Are you pleased that you put a scar on my body? DON'T BE SO FULL OF YOURSELF HUMAN"

The dark mark on Aizen's forehead cracked and revealed a white sphere that looked like an eye which began dripping red. Ichigo watched as there was a blast of purple dark energy from Aizen sending a huge gust of winds, a clear light shooting so far out into the sky you couldn't tell where it ended hearing Aizen scream as something white shot out of his back; blood visible. The pillar of light then broke splattering a huge amount of red that could only be identified as blood all around and from within it revealed Aizen who had gone through yet another transformation. He no longer resembled anything close to human; his entire body transformed to white, his wings with visible skull like structures and the Hougyoku more visible than anything within his chest.

"Yes" he said in a rough voice looking down at Ichigo "This is inexcusable isn't it Hougyoku? That I, let a human get the better of me."

Aizen sent a blast right at Ichigo that almost cleared the entire landscape and no matter how far they were the wakened residents of Karakura could see and feel the heat of the blast from there.

Ichigo emerged from the flames with his cloak burnt halfway and his left arm visibly burned.

"You too that attack with so little damage, but your left arm is no longer usable."

Aizen flew towards Ichigo grabbing him by the throat and flying through the flames as his wings spread around Ichigo and the skulls opened their mouths forming purple rings that became white. Surrounding Ichigo in his grasp.

"Can you hear me Ichigo Kurosaki?" called Aizen as he continued to hold the teen at the neck "Indeed for a moment, you broke the boundary between hollows and soul reapers to become a transcended being. But that power is no more. You're not worth trying to understand anymore. I, a true transcended being will kill you. By killing you I will completely break free from both soul reapers and hollows alike. It's over Ichigo Kurosaki."

Ichigo spoke up surprising the being that was once known as a soul reaper "Over, you say?"

Aizen gasped as Ichigo looked him right in the eye "Is this all you've got?"

With a swing of his sword Ichigo evaporated the rings that were surrounding him and Aizen.

"Let's end this already Aizen, I've grown sick...of your arguments" he pointed his sword at Aizen "I'll show you. This is the final...Getsugatensho"

A large blue light shot up into the sky so bright it was almost blinding following a line of black streaks that complete hid Ichigo.

"What is this?" asked Aizen "This form?"

As he looked at Ichigo his form had changed now, his hair was no longer bright orange but instead became black and fell all the way to his waist, his upper form was covered in gray bandages as dark lines ran along his one arm that wasn't covered; there was dark energy around him that looked like black flames. His eyes had turned red.

"The final Getsugatensho is me. Becoming Getsuga myself."

"The final Getsugatensho"

'If I use this technique' Ichigo thought 'I will lose all of my soul reaper powers, that's what 'final means'

Aizen watched Ichigo with slight concern 'I still can't sense his power. I have evolved into a being beyond that of a soul reaper or hollow. Just as two-dimensional beings can never interact with three-dimensional beings, no soul reaper or human could ever detect my spiritual pressure. Unless I deliberately brought down my powers to their levels of awareness...could it be possible that he... is at an even high level than myself?"

Aizen instantly became enraged with the very thought of such a thing being true, it had been on probability he refused to consider or think about.

"ABURD THAT CAN'T BE POSSIBLE A MERE HUAM CANNOT SURPASS ME! THAT CAN'T BE"

Ichigo raised his arm that had become engulfed in the black light as Aizen watched fear entering his being for the first time since this battle had begun.

"Mugetsu"

A black flame so large it could be seen for miles ran a straight path, hitting Aizen head on and leaving a large thin line in the ground.

* * *

When Sakura opened her eyes once again she was surrounded in darkness, she recalled the maze trying to swallow her whole and after that everything was a blank. She looked around in confusion.

"Where the hell am I now?" she asked though all she was greeted with was an echo that was until...

She heard giggling, the darkness began to fade around her and she found herself in a forest looking around there was no one she could see in the mist. But she heard voices.

Familiar voices.

"You're not coming back anymore?"

"I can't, it's too dangerous."

"But I want you to stay."

"I wish I could Sakura."

Gasping Sakura saw two figures emerge from mist walking hand in hand, the first was a young man dressed in a soul reaper uniform and she recognised him as...

"Kyo?"

And there was a young twelve year old girl with him holding tightly onto his hand, a girl dressed in a red Chinese style dress with forehead protector on her head as a band.

"Why can't you come see me anymore?"

"Things have gotten really dangerous back in my world and I can't risk anyone finding me here." He said "If they did it would put me and you in grave danger. Do you understand Sakura?"

Sakura gasped as she stared at the pair watching them but they didn't seem to see her at all even though she was right in front of them.

"So you're done testing it?" asked the younger Sakura glancing up at Kyo.

He nodded smiling down at her "Yes, in fact."

Stopping in the middle of a grass field Kyo reached into his pocket to revealing a small bluish-purple orb.

"Here, think of it as a going away present."

Sakura gasped starring at it "But that's it's the-

"I know Sakura, but it would be better off here than back in my world where it could course some serious damage. I need you to protect it. Looking after it. Can you do that for me?"

Sakura nodded slowly as she took the Hougyoku from Kyo's hands.

"This is what you use to come here..."

"Yes but like I said I'm not going to need it anymore."

Sakura started crying as she held the orb in her hand "But that means...I'm really never going to see you again..."

"That's not true"

She looked up at him with blinking emerald orbs.

"Remember what this is capable of, one day when the time is right make a wish and you'll be able to see me again. This time maybe you could even visit me in my world."

Sakura smiled wiping away her tears nodding "Uh ha"

"Why'd I go through this?"

"_Because you wished for it" _

Sakura gasped hearing the voice.

"I wished for this?"

There was another flash and a change of scenery, Sakura found herself back within the darkness.

_You made a mistake _

_You lost everything_

_You wanted to live again _

_You didn't want to die _

_So you made a wish_

_A wish to be reborn _

_A wish to have more power_

_A wish that would-_

"Kill me" Sakura murmured

The blackness around her started to crack and she found herself back in the maze, the thorns around her untangled and unwrapped from her form as she struggled against them vigorously. When they subsided Sakura stood in the centre of the maze and fell to her knees. Tears streamed down her face.

"Now I understand...

* * *

As Ichigo's from reverted back to normal and the dust began to clear he spotted Aizen's form lying on the ground but he was regenerating already from his attack. Ichigo appeared in front of him and watched as Aizen picked himself off the ground. Ichigo felt his power weaken and his hair reverted back to its natural orange before he fell to his knees.

"Crap...My soul reaper powers" Ichigo grimaced as he glared at the ground before he heard a shuffling and looked up to see Aizen already standing. He was breathing heavily as he looked down at Ichigo.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, you lose" he held up his broken sword "Behold, my zampakuto is breaking away. You should know what that means. The Hougyoku has determined that I no longer need a zampakuto! Like you I have become one with the zampakuto and its powers. In fact, you no longer have that power, while I reach a level that is far beyond yours! It's over! Ichigo Kurosaki!"

Suddenly Aizen felt a burning sensation within his chest and little beams of red light became to appear from his body.

"What is this?" he asked "Kido? But when was I attacked?"

"Seems it's finally taking effect" a familiar voice cut through the air

Kisuke appeared before the two watching with a calm demeanour.

"Kisuke Urahara, this is your doing?" shouted Aizen

"Yes" he replied "Before you were completely transformed, when you were most vulnerable, I planted a kido inside another kido and shot it into your body. It's a seal. I figured that once you fused with the Hougyoku, killing you would be nearly impossible. So I invented a new kiddo to seal you off."

"Is that so?" asked Aizen "I hate to disappoint you."

He held up his breaking zampakuto "At this moment, I am about to evolve even further. You can't seal me off with this level of Kido!"

Aizen's form began breaking apart once more but this time instead of another evolution his human form began to appear beneath the white cracks. He looked at his hand in disbelief and confusion.

"What is this?"

"It is the Hougyoku's will" said Kisuke "The reason the seal that I shot into your body is taking effect now is because your powers have weakened. It's all thanks to Ichigo; he fought so hard and pushed you to your limit. The Hougyoku is saying that it does not recognise you as its master anymore."

"That's impossible" Aizen said starring at his hand "That can't be, I should have control of this power-

"You're wrong"

Everyone stopped to look towards the figure of the new voice that entered and there stood a being with the unmistakable voice but an unrecognisable form. The figure was tall and slim with sliver-light purple tinted long hair with dark purple eyes, her entire form was snow white, the covering around her looked like nothing more than skin minus her bottom half that was covered by a white long skirt like material, there were visible purple marks running along her face to her chest, a light purple kind of flame surrounded her. While the form wasn't recognisable, her voice was.

"S-Sakura?" Ichigo whispered starring at her in awe.

She looked at him as if to confirm her identity "Ichigo"

Sakura looked back at Aizen as she started walking towards him "You're wrong Aizen, you have no control over the Hougyoku any longer, and it wishes to return to its true master. It always has"

"W-What, that's impossible! How can you be-?

Sakura smiled sadly "I finally understand now."

"What are you talking about Sakura?" Ichigo asked still confused.

"Kyo...he was a soul reaper. He created the first Hougyoku but he knew it was too dangerous so he discarded it and put it within me. It all makes sense now." Sakura looked at Aizen and held up her hands "All of Kyo's hard work, being made a mockery of. You're not its true master, he entrusted the first one to me. He shouldn't have his work used for purposes like this. I refuse to let it!"

Sakura appeared right in front of Aizen, her hand snapping forward straight into his chest and pulling out the other orb.

"The Hougyoku will be restored to its rightful place and no one will be able to use it for such vile purposes ever again." Sakura murmured as her eyes flashed and she started to absorb the other orb within her own body.

"What is happening?" asked Ichigo

"She's absorbing the other Hougyoku, thus stripping any hold Aizen had of it forever. Kyo...that name." Kisuke said in wonder

Sakura pulled back away from Aizen feeling the power flowing within her, a searing pain shot through her entire body as she became engulfed with the purple flames. She felt like the skin would melt from her flesh as the pain in her chest increased until finally it became nothing but a dull ache. Sakura stepped back feeling her form return back to normal. She swayed slightly; her vision blurring.

With the Hougyoku removed from Aizen the seal started to take full effect and began covering his entire form. Aizen glared hatefully at everyone but especially Kisuke.

"Urahara" he hissed "Kisuke Urahara, do you know how much I despise you? With your great intellect why won't you take independent action? Why do you choose to subject yourself to that thing!?"

"By that thing, do you mean the soul king?" he asked back calmly collected "I understand now. You saw didn't you? Without the existence of the Soul king, the soul society would split apart. The Soul King is the keystone. Without the keystone in place everything would fall apart easily. That's how the world is."

"That's an argument only a loser would make!" Shouted Aizen as the seal continued to engulf his form.

"A victor must always speak of how the world should be rather than how it is! I..."

Before he could continue the seal had finished and surrounded him completely cutting him off and turning into a giant white cross.

Sakura watched as Aizen vanished, sealed away.

It was over.

The sun started to come out from under the clouds, a breeze of peace washed over everyone and they also knew that it was finally over.

Ichigo stood up from his crouched position and limped over to Sakura looking down at her without even offering a smile.

"Hey"

"Hey" she responded in the same tone

* * *

Kisuke took the two young reapers away from the area and back to the outskirts of the town. Ichigo and Sakura were staring up at the sky together; they had yet to say a word to one another that had any form of endearment or concern. They heard shuffling behind them and saw Kisuke returning.

"Urahara, where's everyone?" asked Ichigo standing up first

"I sent them all home." He said smiling "They all seemed to want to talk to you guys but they also seemed hesitant about approaching you."

"You didn't erase their memories did you?" he asked

"No. Not this time."

Ichigo gasped softly before closing his eyes on contentment "I see. That's good." Ichigo smiled "I was tired of hiding things from them. When I get back, I'll personally explain to them."

Kisuke nodded smiling himself before looking back at the two seriously "Aizen's cross seal was taken back to the Sereitei. Central 46 will make a decision soon about what to do with him."

Ichigo looked down "I see."

Sakura remained quiet and passive at the two.

"Why the solemn look?"

"I don't know" Ichigo replied honestly

"You both saved everyone's life and this world, because you risked your life to battle and defeat Aizen."

Sakura averted her eyes 'Risked our lives...maybe that's true for Ichigo but for me. I-I didn't risk my life.'

"I know that." Ichigo said softly

"You did the right thing. There's no reason for the two of you to look like that."

The two remained silent both for their own reasons.

"Say Urahara...was Aizen...was Aizen really rejected by the Hougyoku?"

Sakura stiffened slightly at the mention of the object that had created this disaster.

"My dad told me that the Hougyoku's power is to take in the heart surrounding itself and manifest its desires. If that's the case could it be that Aizen lost his powers of his own will? After I attained enough power to battle Aizen on even terms; I was able to feel his sword. There was nothing but loneliness in his sword. If his powers were superior from the moment he was born; perhaps he was searching all this time for someone he could regard as his equal. Then ever since that moment he gave up thinking he'd ever find such a rival, he's been wishing somewhere in his heart that he could become a mere soul reaper."

"Perhaps it was Sakura that started the rejection-

"No" Sakura interjected quickly "It wasn't me...I only removed it from Aizen."

"That's what I thought too." Ichigo said softly

There was silence between everyone for a while once again.

Then there was the interruption of another familiar voice.

"I-Ichigo...Sakura?"

The two turned around to see Orihime who had called out to them and she wasn't the only one there. Rukia, Renji, Uryuu and Chad also stood there healed from their injuries and watching the two.

"Orihime, Uryuu, Rukia, Chad, Renji...what's up with you guys? Is it okay for you to be up already?"

Sakura scoffed "You should be the last one asking that question"

Ichigo glanced back at her as she stood up wincing slightly "And you're no better."

Kisuke smiled, it looks like those two were quick to return to their normal selves.

Rukia stepped forward "What about the two of you? What-

A sniffing cut Rukia off as she looked over at Orihime who had started to tear up at the sight of them.

"It really is you two after all; you hair's longer so I thought maybe it wasn't you..."

Sakura gave a reassuring laugh "I don't think you'll get anyone around here with this colour hair Orihime."

"I'm glad, I'm so glad" Orihime cried

Ichigo smiled "What's with that look? Well I guess my hair is pretty long I'll cut it short again-

As Ichigo stepped forward he suddenly fell to the ground with a thud causing everyone to rush over to him but Sakura was the first to reach him.

"Ichigo what's wrong?"

It wasn't long though before Sakura felt a searing pain in her chest once again and dark spots filled her vision. Before she knew it, she was out cold as well the last thing she heard was their friends screaming their names.

* * *

"_Hi; I'm Sakura Haruno nice to meet you"_

"_Don't worry yourself; Kurosaki I can take care of myself and I don't need any knights in shining armour"_

"_Cut it out carrot top" _

"_Please tell me everything about soul reapers." _

"_I did this because….I owe you" _

"_That's what I've decided; I'm going to help you"_

"_Thank you; Ichigo..." _

'SAKURA!'

Ichigo's eyes snapped open and he found himself starring up at an unfamiliar ceiling with his friends hovering closer over him.

"Ichigo" Orihime sighed in relief

He started looking around in confusion "Where am I?"

"We brou4ght you to my house" Rukia explained

Ichigo got a better look at all of his friends and noticed that they were all alright "What happened to your injuries?"

"We all healed a long time ago" Uryuu explained pushing up his glasses

"What are you talking about?" asked Ichigo

"You've been unconscious for the last ten days Ichigo" Rukia explained "You and Sakura passed out."

"You've gotta be kidding..." Ichigo muttered "My powers are they gone?"

There was silence among everyone for a little while before Rukia broke it.

"Don't worry, they haven't faded away yet."

"So you already know?"

"Yes Kisuke told us everything"

"I see"

Orihime looked at him with concerned eyes "Are you alright Ichigo?"

"It was very strange at the moment we all reunited you and Sakura collapsed and we had no idea what happened."

Thinking back Ichigo recalled falling unconscious.

"Kisuke said there are several stages you can expect to go through when losing your powers."

"What did he tell you?" asked Ichigo

"Everything" Rukia explained "First you lose consciousness and the time your body spends in the press of this world immediately begins to flow in reverse. Did you notice your hair is shorter?"

Ichigo looked up and realised that it was.

"Your height has returned to what it used to be and your spirit energy is stabilised and of course you still retain your soul reaper powers eventually however it will move to the next phase. When that happens you'll lose your powers for good, we don't know when it's going to happen however."

Ichigo smiled looking back from the window "Oh well when that time comes it comes."

Everyone looked like they should get the nurse for Ichigo.

"Ichigo are you..." Orihime trailed off

"Don't worry; I'll be alright Orihime, more importantly I'm glad all of you are ok."

"Wait a minute" Orihime said

"What the hell are you talking about? How can you act like it's nothing you're about to lose your spirit energy you know!" Uryuu exclaimed

"Calm down Uryuu" Chazz said

Uryuu groaned "These two I swear..."

"Two?" Ichigo asked

Rukia nodded "Ichigo, I told you already. Sakura collapsed to."

Ichigo gasped; he had heard that but he assumed it was because Sakura had exhausted her spirit energy.

"What are you saying?"

"Ichigo...Sakura's going to lose her spirit energy as well."

* * *

Sakura stared out towards the horizon with a solemn expression; she was sitting on a tall hill looking over at the district. Three days, it's been three days since she has woken up but her orange haired companion was still unconscious and she was honestly worried. She hoped that Ichigo woke up soon. After Sakura regained consciousness Kisuke had immediately insisted on doing a check up on her himself since he wanted to make sure there wouldn't be any dangerous side effects of the Hougyoku and what he found he believed to be a cause for concern. Sakura on the other hand hadn't been surprised to hear about what he had discovered in fact she was suspecting it.

The Hougyoku's power was being suppressed now within Sakura's body.

She was holding it within her, to destroy it. Once and for all. Kisuke had said that it was a dangerous tool and she knew he was right. So why not destroy it. The Hougyoku was now a part of her and she would be able to destroy it for good.

'But when that happens...' Sakura trailed off from her thoughts closing her eyes as she felt a flicker of fear course through her.

'_Promise me that you won't tell anyone else about this especially Ichigo."_

"_You friends should know-_

"_Please, nothing will change the outcome so...I don't want to spend the last of my days having them look at me like I'm broken."_

"_If that's what you want Sakura." _

The pinkette felt a tear slide down her eye 'Until then I suppose there's nothing else I can do, no point in telling anyone else after all nothing will change the outcome anyway.' Sakura smiled sadly

'I'll be fine...' truth be told she wasn't entirely sure that as true but she had to say something to convince herself that she was right.

"Sakura!"

Turning around swiftly Sakura caught sight of Ichigo running towards her. She stared at him with slightly wide eyes. Seeing him already on his feet as if he hadn't nearly died in battle or came from a war was unbelievable. She had gone to check on Ichigo every day and night since she had woken up but that hadn't been much since there was still a lot of concerns about her conditions.

'Yet they allow him to run out on the first day he wakes up.' Sakura thought pouting slightly before she realised Ichigo had reached her. He stopped right in front of her panting slightly looking like he had been hunting for her.

"Hey where the heck have you been? You weren't supposed to leave the house without telling someone!" he said frowning

Sakura gave him a look "Since when am I obligated to do that? I'm not a little child."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes "You sure got the attitude of one shouldn't you still be resting, waking up after three days isn't that much recovery time."

Sakura gaped at him and gently punched his arm "Reality check, you just woke up today! You should be in bed resting."

"I'm fine; I can handle this sort of thing."

"And you're implying that I can't?" Sakura asked crossing her arms over her chest

"I didn't say that!"

"You implied it" Sakura stated haughty

Ichigo glared at her "I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry for worrying about you okay!"

Sakura went silent after he said that and gave a slight pout before diverting her eyes back towards the sunset muttering something under her breath.

"What was that?" Ichigo asked leaning forward.

"Stupid; should've rested" she said again only slightly less softly as her eyes softened. She turned away from Ichigo, she heard him sigh and step closer towards her.

"Is there...is there something you want to tell me?"

Sakura glanced at him and did her best to remain passive "What are you talking about?"

Ichigo closed his eyes "I heard from the guys that you're going to lose your soul reaper powers."

Sakura nodded "That's right, I am."

"But how, I don't get it."

"Ichigo" Sakura whispered "When I was transformed and absorbed that Hougyoku from Aizen I gave the Hougyoku an order...over a time period my spiritual pressure is going to destroy the Hougyoku and I'll lose my spiritual powers."

Ichigo gasped "W-What?"

"The Hougyoku will be destroyed within my body and we'll never have to worry about anyone coming after it again." Sakura reassured Ichigo smiling.

Ichigo gave her an odd look "You're going to destroy it within yourself? What about you?"

"What about me?" Sakura asked

"How will this affect you?"

Sakura bit her bottom lip before speaking "I'll lose my powers as a soul reaper, that's it but you know I do have an idea of when I'll lose it."

"How" Ichigo asked

Sakura smiled feeling tears brim her eyes "It still manifests desires and my desire is to lose my powers...when you lose yours Ichigo."

Ichigo's eyes softened "Sakura..."

"_Once the Hougyoku finishes evaporating with you spiritual pressure Sakura, your bodies next."_

The pinkette continued to smile looking out to the sunset "That way no matter what nothing will change between you and me."

"What are you talking about Sakura?" Ichigo asked

She giggled "I've only just realised this myself but...we've been together for a while now. Human or soul reaper; we've got this much in common I didn't want losing our powers to put a boundary up between us." She felt tears sting her eyes again as she left out the one important detail she knew she should mention to Ichigo but couldn't bring herself to say.

"We've been Ichigo and Sakura for a while now and I just...don't want that to change." she said softly "I really like it..." she started crying "I really like being I-hick-Ichigo and S-S-Sakura."

"Sakura..."Ichigo trailed off looking at the pinkette, he felt that there was something about this he was missing but he didn't think much on it. He only focused on the pinkette that had risked her life so many times for him and his friends only having known them for such a short time.

Ichigo's thoughts trailed back from when he first met to this moment now. They had come a long way. She couldn't turned around any time she wanted, none of this was her fight yet she stayed by him all along even when she said she wanted nothing to do with this.

With a slightly nervous hand Ichigo pulled up the courage to bring his hand up onto her shoulder and pull her closer. Sakura looked up at him with confused tear filled eyes.

"Ichigo..."

He smiled "You know; I kinda like the idea of Ichigo and Sakura as well."

Sakura stared at him with wide eyes as he looked at her.

"Though I do have one problem with what you said."

"What's that?" Sakura asked

Without warning of any kind Ichigo swooped down and his lips connected with her own, she stood there awe struck for a while. This kiss was different than what she had experienced before with him. The first kiss they shared was swift and simple but this one was more demanding and Sakura felt herself melting into it. Ichigo's hand gently stroked her face as he felt Sakura grip onto his kimono.

When they finally pulled back both were blushing feeling their hearts pound against their rib cages.

Sakura felt Ichigo pull her into an embrace and whispered to her "You said you didn't want things to change between us but I do."

"W-What are you talking about?"

"Ichigo and Sakura back then were just friends. I want something more than that."

Sakura blushed when she fully understood what he just implied.

"What do you say?" Ichigo asked feeling his face flush further, it was clear both of them had absolutely no experience in the romance department in fact both were naive when it came to this sort of thing but Ichigo was willing if she was.

"I-I" Sakura smiled shyly looking down "I think I'd like that to."

"FINALLY"

Ichigo and Sakura nearly jumped off the hill when they saw Rukia, Orihime, Renji, Uryuu and Chad appear from hiding behind a rock.

"What the hell are you all doing here?" Ichigo glared at them

Sakura on the other hand was embarrassed "H-How long have you guys been there?"

Judging from the smug grins on their faces-a while.

"Not too long" Renji said "Just enough to catch that sentimental confession of Ichigo's and a bit of that kiss-

"YOU BETTER START RUNNING" Ichigo yelled as he started to chase his friends around the field as they begged him for forgiveness.

Sakura watched them with a cheery smile.

'I'm glad, I can't afford to waste precious moments like these anymore. So I'll cherish them forever.'

* * *

**And that's all folks-Not! Now that the winter wars over things are going to really get interesting. I kinda rushed this chapter but I realised it's been way too long since I updated so I hope you forgive me but at least the ribbons been tied on this chapter and I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter. **

**See you soon. **

**Don't forget to review-if you have any ideas for what Sakura and Ichigo should have to deal with when they get back please tell me in a review or message me. **

**Bye-Bye!**


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